The Marriage Postulation
by dnelle
Summary: Sheldon wants to fulfill Meemaw's dying wish for him to marry by making what he calls a temporary arrangement. The best candidate to be his wife? His neighbor Penny.
1. Chapter 1

It all started with a blackout that spread across Pasadena like wildfire. Cue Penny freaking out about whether or not it was her fault for not paying her electric bill, Sheldon freaking out because an apocalypse is probably starting, and Leonard busting out his lightsaber like a miniature Jedi. A pretty sight.

"Oh, good," Penny said breathlessly as she opened the door to the guys' apartment. "I thought it was just me."

Sheldon looked at her as he roasted marshmallows on a Bunsen burner. "There are 7 billion people in the planet, Penny. It's never _just you,"_ he replied, and she could feel the air quotes around the "just you."

"Yeah, whatever," she replied. "I'll be in my apartment if any of you boys get scared or something." Sheldon and Leonard watched as she shut the door a little too hard.

Sheldon shrugged. "Someone's on their monthly cycle." Leonard's eyes widened, then he squinted at his crazy roommate. "First of all, that's not a very nice thing to say. Second of all, how can you possibly know that?"

"Aside from the attitude?" Sheldon asked, and Leonard responded with an incredulous shake of his head. "It's the 15th of the month. Last month on this exact same date Penny had been exhibiting the signs of being on her monthly cycle, complete with the food cravings, the mood swings, even the headaches. And I've noticed when I came by that day that she had an array of feminine products by her bathroom sink."

Leonard looked even more horrified. "That's... Gross. I'm terribly sorry I asked."

Sheldon finished roasting a handful of marshmallows. "Would you like a s'more?" Leonard nodded. "Fine."

They fixed their s'mores in silence, having nothing to discuss. Leonard was actually grateful that Sheldon wasn't especially talkative tonight. If there had been electricity, he'd have had his ear talked off.

"Leonard," Sheldon broke the silence. _Great, I jinxed it,_ thought Leonard. "May I ask you a question?"

He sighed audibly, but curiosity took a hold of him. "Ask away, buddy."

"I have been doing research about women." Sheldon replied before taking another bite of his s'more, leaving Leonard wide-eyed yet again. "Excuse me?"

Sheldon wiped his hands. "More specifically, I have been doing research about how males choose their mate. Apparently the criteria ranges from attractiveness, physical proportions, intellect, maternal capacitance... Among other things."

Leonard swallowed, trying his hardest to come up with something to say. "Okay..."

"Based on that, if I were to choose a mate, she would be beautiful, so that I would have aesthetically pleasing progeny. She would have at least average IQ, so that combined with mine, our children will be sufficiently smart and with no social awkwardness issues." At this point Leonard almost spit out his s'more. _What the hell is going on?_ "And, in addition, she would have to be someone close to me. Someone who is already familiar with my routines. Someone who knows me well enough."

Sheldon paused, as if for dramatic effect. "So, Leonard, I have to ask..." _Here it is,_ Leonard thought.

"...what do you think of Penny being my wife?"

* * *

 **Two days earlier**

Sheldon's meemaw had been sick for a while, and he knew it wouldn't be long until she had to go. It had been hard for him to accept this, but he was familiar with the life cycle-the beginning and the end. Lying in a hospital bed her meemaw looked tiny and pale, and Sheldon held her hand so gently, fearing she may break.

"Sheldon," meemaw said feebly, and he pulled a chair to sit beside her, enabling him to hear her better. "Yes, meemaw?"

She smiled. "I'm old, Moonpie," she said. "And I might not have a lot of time..."

"Don't say that!" Sheldon exclaimed. His meemaw was his weakness, and he didn't like seeing her this way.

"Oh. sweetheart," she replied, looking up at her favorite grandson. "We both know it's true."

He sighed audibly. "Well..."

Meemaw squeezed his hand as hard as she could. "Sheldon, your brothers and sister are happily married and with kids," she said, thinking about the little Coopers who had been fussing around her all morning. "You're the only one who hasn't given me any great-grandkids."

"Well, I have other plans," Sheldon replied stubbornly. "I'm the only one who could give you a Nobel prize!"

"Moonpie, seriously, what am I going to do with a Nobel prize?" She replied. "Sheldon, it will bring me great joy if you were to marry before I pass."

Sheldon's eyes widened. "Meemaw!"

She laughed. "Please, Sheldon? Think about it. Wouldn't it be cute to see my little Moonpie with a doting wife and little genius babies? Imagine having a wife to make you fluffy pancakes cooked in bacon grease everyday. Your dad, I remember, loved everything cooked in bacon grease."

"Of course he did," Sheldon said as he thought about his late father. "But meemaw, I don't need a wife! I don't need a _doting wife._ I can take care of myself."

She laughed again, much to Sheldon's annoyance. "Oh, please. Leonard takes care of you. That girl, Penny? Takes care of you too. You can barely function in society on your own." Meemaw sensed Sheldon's discomfort. "Look, Sheldon. My one wish for you is to find someone to love, and someone who loves you. And who wouldn't love my precious little Moonpie?" She smiled. "Please, Sheldon, humor the old woman."

* * *

Present day

"Are you serious?!" Leonard half-screamed. "Penny as your _wife?!"_

Sheldon, calm as ever, nodded. "She is more than qualified, Leonard. You should know."

Leonard was freaking out. "Don't you think that it's a little... weird? And Penny-how can you be sure that she will agree? She hates your guts most of the time."

"It's not a permanent arrangement, Leonard," Sheldon replied. "I just need to fulfill my meemaw's wish."

Leonard sighed. "I'm not sure she'll appreciate you lying to her!"

"Look, Leonard," Sheldon replied in his calm, logical voice, as opposed to Leonard's shrilly, freaked out one. "Meemaw has always been there for me, when nobody else was. She loved me unconditionally, and she supported my endeavors. Who am I to deny her such an easy request? I will do anything to make her happy, even if that means having to lie. Oh, and frankly, I don't like the idea of being married either. So I'm sure this arrangement is not going to last."

Leonard stayed silent for a long time, and thought about Penny and Sheldon. Surely it's not going to work between them, right? "You know what, Sheldon, I give you my blessing," he finally said as he realized that yeah, Sheldon's going to screw this all up.

* * *

 **AN: Hi everyone! I am terribly sorry that I've been gone for so long-I had been really busy! So to make up for my absence I will be writing this multi-chapter fic. Bear with me as I update from time to time :-)**

 **Reviews are appreciated, as always!**

 **TBBT's not mine. :-)**


	2. Chapter 2

Penny woke up to her TV blaring, and knew at once that the power was back on. "Thank God," she moaned as she pulled the covers off her. It was too early for her liking, but she got up anyway, intending to do some yoga in her living room. Ever since she got the sales rep job, she has been waking up early, drinking alcohol less, and doing exercise more. She felt amazing.

Her reverie was disturbed, however, by the knocking on her door. The knock she was all too familiar with. "Hi, Sheldon," she smiled as she opened the door. "Had a good night?"

"Um..." He kept his mouth shut. He wasn't about to tell her that he had been up all night drafting a contract for the fake marriage he was just about to ask her.

"Sheldon?" She prodded. "I assume you didn't come all the way here to stare."

He brushed past her as he took his place in the couch. "Come in," Penny said sarcastically as he sat.

"My meemaw has about 6 months to live," he blurted out.

Penny immediately regretted being an ass those past two minutes. "Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry."

"Thank you," he replied. "But that's not why I'm here." Penny sat beside him. "Okay..."

He swallowed. "Actually, I have something to ask you."

* * *

"Is he doing this now?" Howard asked Leonard as he and Raj opened the apartment door to try to eavesdrop on Penny and Sheldon. Leonard nodded. "He was up all night drafting a freaking contract," he replied.

Raj snickered. "Can you believe it? Sheldon's about to ask someone to marry him. No, wait, not someone-Penny!"

Leonard glared at him. "Shut up." Howard saw what Raj was doing, and smirked. "Would you look at that, Leonard. Sheldon beat you to it! Sheldon Cooper is mister-steal-yo-girl," Howard said in his fake gangster voice.

"What are you talking-" Leonard replied, but was cut off when the three heard sudden screaming from the inside of Penny's apartment.

"What the hell, Sheldon!" Penny shouted. Sheldon remained standing awkwardly. "You think you can just come in here at-" she looked at the clock in her living room "-nine in the morning and ask me to marry you!"

Sheldon shrugged. "Why me, Sheldon? Christ, Amy would kill for you to marry her," Penny was pacing back and forth, freaking out at the prospect of her marrying freaking Sheldon Cooper.

"Well... There was a criteria, and you were the best possible candidate..." He said quietly.

Penny stopped. " _Criteria?_ Sheldon what the hell are you talking about?"

"Um..." Sheldon the genius was unsure of what to say, which amused Penny. "Well, you're attractive, you look fertile, you're good with fending off bullies..."

"I look fertile!?" Penny wanted to throw something at his head now. "Are you asking for children too?!"

Too? Sheldon pursed his lips to think. "Are you saying yes to the marriage?"

Penny sat back down on the couch and looked at Sheldon. Would it be so bad is she said yes? Sheldon has always been her best friend-yep, not Leonard. He'd taken her to the hospital once, sung her Soft Kitty on more than one occasion... He was always very good to her, even when he wasn't. Even when he was an ass to almost everyone, he made it a point to not piss her off. Besides, it was only going to be temporary arrangement, right? In a year she could get a divorce and her life would go back to normal. She'd do it for meemaw-she liked that woman. Plus, she was an actress, for Pete's sake. She could pull this off.

Oh, and maybe she could ask Sheldon to forgive her loans to him as exchange for being his wife. You know, as payment for all the take out and the hogging of the wifi...

"Sheldon," she said, visibly calmed down. "Is there going to be a relationship agreement?"

He nodded, as if afraid she was going to lash out again. "Of course."

"Do I get any say in it?" She inquired. "You have about 90 percent of the control. I figured that since I'm asking this of you as a favor you get the upper hand."

 _See, Penny? He can be sweet too-if you ignored his weirdness,_ she thought to herself. "Fine." She replied.

She chewed on the inside of her lip. Okay, Penny, two can play at that game. "Okay, fine, I'll marry you," she said smugly, devising a plan to mess with his head. "But you're going to have to ask nicer." He looked horrified. _Perfect._ "Oh, and you're going to have to treat me as a wife. Date nights, wooing, flowers, all those crap. And I want a real wedding, like with a dress and stuff. This may be a fake marriage, but I'm not going to let you just play me."

Sheldon _was_ horrified. "Okay. But we're going to have to be in Texas."

"Okay." She sighed. Of course.

* * *

Sheldon walked out of Penny's apartment and saw his three friends standing by the doorway to his. "Hey buddy," Leonard said sympathetically. "We heard the screaming. Sorry she said no."

Sheldon looked at the three. "Sorry?" He asked. "She said yes," he clarified before going straight to his room. He didn't see it, but Leonard's jaw almost hit the floor in surprise.

* * *

 **AN: Second chapter! Sorry this is a bit uneventful, but now that's Penny's said yes, things are going to be much more interesting. :-)**

 **TBBT is still not mine.**


	3. Chapter 3

Never had Sheldon exerted this much effort into a date before.

With Amy, he had only followed the internet's advice. Dinner in a restaurant. Red wine-for her, anyway. Dress up in a fancy suit, complete with a tie and leather dress shoes. That's pretty much it.

But ever since the idea to take Penny out on a date hatched in his mind, all Sheldon had been doing was second guess everything he knew about the whole dating... thing.

"You're looking too much into this," Leonard bitterly said, staring at his laptop but aware of Sheldon's every move. "I thought this was going to only be a temporary thing."

"I'm not," Sheldon replied. "And it is."

Leonard looked up from his laptop and saw his roommate squirming on the couch. "So why are you trying so hard to make this as perfect as possible? You're not trying to make her fall in love with you... right?"

Sheldon paused before answering. "Well, I had asked Penny an enormous favor, which I'm sure she's not so thrilled about. I am about to put her in a situation wherein she is forced to lie to the most important person in my life. That can't be comfortable for her. I only want to make her feel comfortable."

Leonard shut up then, realizing that Sheldon had a point. Batshit crazy, but the man had a point. "But you know what, I think you're right," Sheldon mused. "You set the bar too low when you two were dating, what does she know?"

Leonard ignored the comment, but knew, again, that the man had a goddamn point.

* * *

At exactly 6 pm, Sheldon went over to Penny's and knocked. He knew she was already at the door-he could see her shadow when he looked down. One thing he gave Penny credit for, however, was her not interrupting his knocking routine.

"Hey-oh!" She gasped as she saw Sheldon-well, the flowers that had really long legs-standing right in front of her. "Sheldon?"

He lowered the flowers so he could see her. "Hello, Penny." He thrusted his flower bearing arm towards her. "These are for you."

Penny looked at the flowers for a moment, then smiled. "These are beautiful!" She said as she looked for a vase to put them in. "Um, come in."

"Actually," Sheldon took a step forward. "I was going to ask you to go to a date with me."

Penny turned from the kitchen, and took in the sight of Sheldon in a navy suit. "Oh, that's why."

He smiled. "It has come to my attention that if a male desires to ask a female's hand in marriage, he must court her you go on a date with me tonight, Penny?"

 _Court?_ She bit her lip. What can go wrong, right? You've already agreed to marry the man, Penny reminded herself. "Yeah, okay. Will you wait out here for me? I need to change."

Sheldon nodded. "Of course."

* * *

Penny stared at her closet, not knowing what to wear. Sheldon hadn't given her a hint of where they were going, which made the ordeal harder. Then there's hair and make-up. Does she need to contour her face for this?

"Christ," she muttered as she examined all her clothes one by one. After ten minutes, she saw it: the white, A-line lace dress she'd never worn before because she said it made her look like a nun. She tried it on anyway, and it fit her perfectly. The dress ended just below her knees-Sheldon didn't care for slutty clothes. Her arms were bare, but it was modest. Which was fitting because Sheldon would never dare think of her in THAT way anyway.

She twirled in front of the mirror, and was pleased by how the skirt twirled with her. She put a thin belt by her waist and curled her hair. Settling on black pumps to make her reach at least Sheldon's shoulder, she put on light make-up and decided she was ready.

And then she was hit by the realization that this was the first date she'd go on where she didn't need to dress like a slut to impress a guy. Even with Leonard she felt the need to where a tight, black dress.

With Sheldon, she knew she could wear a burlap sack to an expensive restaurant and he wouldn't care.

She took a deep breath before she dramatically opened the door of her bedroom. Sheldon turned at the sound, and she saw his eyes widen. "You look... beautful," he stammered.

"Thanks," she replied, suddenly shy. "I wore white to match your shirt. It's cute, it's like we're going to prom. But then again, I didn't go to prom." Sheldon smiled and offered his arm. "Here. I am not risking you breaking your neck walking down those stairs in those shoes." Penny looped her arm with his and they started slowly going down. Sheldon had always been gentle with her, and she appreciated that. Other guys would have let her go down the stairs herself with them behind her so they could watch her ass as she moved.

Penny let herself get lost in the moment. For one night, she would pretend that what she had with Sheldon was real.

The only problem? What she would do if she liked it.

* * *

Sheldon and Penny had been on a date for an hour now, and though he would never admit it out loud, he was actually having fun with her. But of course, he always had fun with her.

"I must say, Penny, I never thought this would happen." He had said. "Are you familiar with the Many Worlds theory?"

She shook her head. "It's a theory that postulates that there are multiple, alternate universes, and that there are different versions of us living in them. These versions of us have different experiences, like different things..."

She thought for a moment. "Okay..."

"I thought that this-us-having a date together would occur in one of those alternate universes, not this one." He said slowly, and she listened intently.

Penny chuckled. "You know, if I had known that theory yesterday, I'd have said that you wanting to marry me is impossible in this universe, but maybe not in one of the others."

He smiled, pleased that she got what he just said. "There are universes wherein we have children and live up to the age of 150."

"Huh." Penny imagined her and Sheldon in rocking chairs, him reading a Physics journal to what, his great-great-great grandkid?

Sheldon diverted his attention to his dessert. Penny didn't know this, but he was also thinking the same thing. Only he was reading to five great-great-great grandkids.


	4. Chapter 4

Leonard woke up to one of the worst headaches of his life.

It was horrible enough that Sheldon concocted this idea of him and Penny-Shenny?-marrying each other, but Sheldon going the extra goddamn mile gave him a tension headache everytime he thought about it. Sheldon has been going on and on about Penny these past three weeks, telling him stuff like "did you know Penny didn't go to her prom?" Or "did you know Penny still has this stuffed bear she got when she was born?" Or "did you know Penny keeps things she thinks has sentimental value in a box in her closet?" Apparently Sheldon and Penny had been getting to know each other a lot through the dating.

And holy crap was he bothered. He knew he didn't have the right to be jealous-at least not anymore-since he broke it off with Penny. He always did that on purpose, believing she'd always come back to him anyway. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine the damn Shenny.

It wasn't Sheldon he was mostly bothered about though-it was Penny. In the course of one month, she's had Sheldon take her out on a fancy date, play miniature golf, walk barefoot on a beach, and take a sculpting class with her. How did she do that? And, more importantly, why?

His head was pounding so hard he thought the knocks on his door were his brain jackhammering into his skull, but he heard Sheldon calling out his name. "What do you want?" "Do you have a tuxedo?" Sheldon inquired. Leonard sat up. "Do I have a-why?" Sheldon hesitated before answering. "It's a surprise."

* * *

"Prom?"

As soon as Penny saw the little envelope slipped under her door, she got flashbacks of her in high school, being asked out to prom by one of the most handsome, most athletic, best football team captain ever-the cliche made her vomit now.

He walked up to her in her made-other-girls-swoon swagger, and whispered "Prom?" in her ear. Okay, so he wasn't the most romantic guy...

And she would have said yes, if he hadn't been sleeping with her best friend merely two hours before he'd asked.

She was heartbroken-she always thought that her perfect, can-do-no-wrong boyfriend would be the one she'd marry someday. She thought that that relationship was the best, most serious one she'd ever had, as opposed to the ones before, which were all fun and games (and unprotected sex.) She took it like a champ, however, and instead took a baseball bat to everything breakable she saw on their farm, imagining it was his smug face she was smashing. _No, Penny, no crying over a boy._

When she met Leonard, she knew her days of pain and violence were over. He was good with her-most of the time. He was sweet and kind and had an IQ more than all the boyfriends she had in Nebraska. Yes he had mommy issues, and yes he was insecure, and yes he sometimes is too pushy, but at least she was sure she would never get hurt. That was until they both realized that they could never work-what with Penny's stubbornness and Leonard's tendency to force unto her whatever he wants.

Penny traced the handwriting with her hand. She knew it was Sheldon's handwriting from experience. Even his penmanship was neat and, well, Sheldon-y. She fought back an urge to go over to his apartment and pinch his cheeks.

She locked the memory of her old self in high school in a vault of bad memories she promised to never open again. _Time to get ready for prom,_ she thought, allowing herself to feel the giddiness of being young again.

* * *

Sheldon stood in her doorway for a moment, as if not believing his eyes. In all the years he has been Penny's neighbor, he had never seen her so... well, beautiful. She wore a red gown that fell to the floor, the color of which she chose so she'd match his bow tie. She put her hair up in a classy bun, which showed off her features. For a second, he was transfixed by the view that was Penny in her red dress.

"I didn't go to my prom either," he said awkwardly.

Penny laughed, and although he didn't understand why she was laughing at him, he liked that she was happy. "Well, here we are," she said. "Junior prom."

He nodded, and Penny allowed him to take her hand so he can lead her over to the next apartment. "Are you ready?" He asked.

She smiled. "Ready." He slowly opened the door to 4B and turned to see her reaction.

"Woah," Penny gasped. "It's beautiful." It was-Sheldon decorated the apartment himself, taking no suggestions from his friends. He put up lanterns on the ceiling, and darkened the apartment lights so it looked like they were under the night sky watching lanterns float up in the air. He put up transparent cloths and string lights that looked like little stars. There were flowers, too-roses and lilies, because Sheldon didn't know which ones she liked. He watched Penny as she looked around adoringly at the apartment, as if not believing that she was still just at 4B. "Thanks," she said, almost teary-eyed, and gave Sheldon a tight hug.

To look as if it were a real senior prom, he invited the whole gang-Howard and Bernadette, Raj and Emily (his other girlfriend couldn't make it), and had Leonard ask out Amy, which they both took well. Sheldon doesn't like parties anyway, so having six other people was sufficient to him. Penny didn't seem to mind-he knew from the look on her face that she was elated. And for that, he was, too.

Raj clicked on the iPod dock and music filled the room, which was everyone's cue to dance. "Dance with me, Penny?" He asked, his hand outstretched. She took his hand, and she led him to the center of the living room. He had to move his furniture back, but at this point, he didn't mind.

He put his hand on her waist, and started leading her. For a second he was thankful for the cotillion lessons he's had as a child in Texas-they have made him a pretty decent dancer. "You know, Sheldon, if you weren't a butt a lot of the times, many women would kill to marry you," Penny said as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"And yet here we are," he replied. "We have been neighbors for ten years now, yet it was only during the past month that I had realized just how good of a friend you have been to me," he said as they moved to the music. "I know that I'm not the easiest person to be with, yet you never left. And you agreed to be my wife even though I am, to use your earlier words, a butt, sometimes." Penny chuckled. "So thank you, for being my friend," he continued. "Oh, and Penny?" Penny lifted her head off his shoulder. "Yes, Sheldon?"

"Will you temporarily marry me?"


	5. Chapter 5

Penny was stunned. When he asked her before all this, she thought that was it. She didn't think he'd go through all this trouble just to fake a wedding. "Um..."

Sheldon's eyes widened. "Oh, wait-before you say something..." He knelt down on one knee. On one goddamn knee! Everyone was staring at Sheldon now. _What the hell?_ Penny thought.

He didn't have a ring in his hand, which relieved her. "I believe this is how people propose," Sheldon said, looking up at wide eyed Penny. "So, will you temporarily marry me?"

"Oh my God," Penny replied, covering her face with her hands. "Yes, yes, I'll marry you temporarily, Sheldon," she replied, emphasis on the _temporarily._ He smiled, nodded, and stood, seeing everyone's stunned faces. "Go dance," he said, brushing them off. "Thanks," he said to Penny, who was in the kitchen pouring herself a glass of red wine. "You're welcome, sweetie," she replied. "God, I _am_ a good friend."

He nodded. "Certainly."

Hours passed, and soon everyone but Leonard, Sheldon, and Penny went home. Sheldon was replacing his furniture, so Penny took that opportunity to talk to Leonard. "Hey."

Leonard smiled sadly at her. "Hi."

"Look," Penny cut to the chase more than anyone. "I don't know how you're feeling about this, but if you hate me for doing it then this early on I'm going to apologize," she said, holding Leonard's hands. "I'm sorry, Leonard."

He nodded meekly. If there's anyone to hate, it's _him._ He was the one who screwed up and pushed her away. "No, _I'm_ sorry," he replied. "You were the good one in the relationship. I was mean and pushy and if I had forced you to keep on having a relationship with me then you'd hate me. I love you, Penny, you know that, but if two people are just not meant to be, all the love in the world is essentially crap." Penny smiled at that. She put her arms around Leonard and gave him a tight squeeze. "Thank you."

"Penny?" She heard Sheldon just as she pulled away from Leonard. "It's way past my bedtime." She nodded. "I know." She turned to face Leonard one last time. "Good night, Leonard."

Sheldon was already waiting for her by the door. "Are you going to walk me to my apartment?" She asked, surprised. "Of course," Sheldon replied. _Huh_.

She stopped him in the middle of the hall. "Before I go, I just want to say thank you, Sheldon. Not just for the prom, the dates... all _this,_ " she gestured. "But for being my friend, too. And for choosing me to be your bride, even for a short while," she giggled as she said the word _"_ bride." "I promise to be a great wife, because you're my friend, and your meemaw's important to me, too."

"Thank you, Penny." Sheldon replied. She took a step closer to him, and to her surprise, he didn't back away. She could hear his heart pounding-was he nervous? He certainly looked nervous. This was kind of like the time they performed that experiment that scientists say made people fall in love almost immediately.

Buzzed, Penny had the courage of a horse. He was looking into her eyes now, silently asking what she was going to do. She sighed. "Look, Sheldon, I'm about to do something kind of out-of-bounds, but think of this as practice for our wedding, alright?" He was too stunned to think of an answer, so Penny took his face with her two hands, and, ever so lightly, touched her lips to his. She waited for a moment, afraid he would scream bloody murder and run for the hills, but he stayed completely still, much to her relief. She pulled away after a few seconds. "Good night, Sheldon." She said before turning around and entering her apartment.

To his surprise, it took him thirty seconds to remember to breathe again.

* * *

Sheldon wasn't just a fan of Spock.

He emulated him. Idolized him. He wanted to literally become him that all his guiding principles in life were based on the Star Trek universe. Since he first watched Star Trek in his childhood, he related so strongly to the Vulcan that he was so sure he wasn't human.

But now, he wasn't quite sure he was Vulcan. Not after the prom.

How could he-a man of science, a man who had distanced himself from feeling any sort of emotion-suddenly feel so... unsure?

When he was with Amy, he enjoyed her companionship. He loved her because she understood him-but that was only because she was a scientist herself. There was a point that she had tried to change him, a true indication of her scientific nature. She understood him because she used science to analyze him. But he felt no urgency to be with her.

But with Penny... she might not have Amy's brains, but she understood him nevertheless, because she was just naturally kind and caring. He actually enjoyed bantering with her, even though she usually ended up angry at him because she did not understand half of what he's saying. But during the times he tried to be more sensitive and understanding towards her, the times he would explain things to her (and the times she actually listened), he actually enjoyed their conversations. She was smart in her own way, and she's tough, and most of all, he wanted to be with her all the time, even to just talk about each other's laundry.

Then there was this thing with postcards. Before Penny, he could not possibly differentiate the Kardashians. Now he knew the names of each one.

Even the Kardashians were interesting when he'd talk about them with Penny.

 _Alright, Sheldon, you're becoming less of a scientist,_ he thought to himself. _Think of physics..._

 _What would you be if you were attached to another object by an inclined plane wrapped helically around an axis? Screwed. That's what you are, Sheldon._

He sighed. At least he was thinking about physics.

* * *

 **Thanks for the reviews! Keep 'em coming. :-)**


	6. Chapter 6

Like many girls, Penny used to dream of the perfect wedding. She used to wear a white shirt on her head like a veil, and enacted again and again the way she'd walk down the aisle to meet the love of her life at the end. When she learned to draw, she'd draw portraits of herself in a wedding dress-10 year old Penny adored lace and feathers, and wanted her dress to have a long tail. She lined up her stuff animals and pretended they were her and her groom's guests, and when she was 12, she had written her vows. They were more along the lines of "I promise to share my food with you always," but they were vows nevertheless.

She had her first crush at age 13-that's when she started to imagine her future groom. In her dreams, he was strong and lean and brave, kind of like the jocks in high school (yep, 13 and she was already prone to making bad relationship decisions). He would be tall, dark, and handsome, like all the leading men in movies she had watched back then. He would be one of those guys who'd show up in front of the girl with a boombox in hand blaring a romantic '80s ballad, accompanied by a declaration of love that left all the leading women speechless. Penny sure liked her Hollywood.

A decade and a half later, Penny's plan for the future was much like that of her 13 year old self. Except the tall, dark, handsome, strong, brooding leading man was replaced with a tall, pale, okay-looking- _sorry Sheldon,_ she thought-Klingon-speaking, Beautiful Mind genius who has a special freaking knock sequence.

13 year old Penny would be on her ass laughing right now. _Seriously?_ She'd taunt, using the kind of voice she reserved for making fun of the Klingon-speaking, Beautiful Mind geniuses at her school.

"How's the blushing bride?" Bernadette asked suddenly, making Penny jump in surprise. "You look nice in that dress. Sheldon would be proud," she said smugly, knowing it was her who had to do with the choosing of the dress. "I had to fight Amy," she continued. "I did good though, right? That dress is fantastic. She would have made you look like a nun."

Penny looked at her friend with admiration and fear. "I know; I was there," she replied. "But yeah, this is a nice dress."

Although far from 10 year old Penny's lace and feather ensemble, the gown perfect. It fit her so perfectly as if she had it made for her alone.

"People are starting to fill up," Amy said as she went in the dressing room. "You look beautiful, bestie."

Penny gave her a sympathetic smile. "Thanks." She appreciated Amy's support. She thought this-whatever this was-would end their friendship permanently, but Amy has stuck to her side throughout the whole process. "Are you ready, Penny?" Bernadette asked. She responded with a nod.

"It's showtime," Bernadette said as she and Amy lined up for the procession.

* * *

Sheldon had requested Penny to hold the ceremony in Texas so that his meemaw could be there, so with the help of Bernadette, Amy, and Missy, they transformed the Cooper house's backyard from boring lawn to enchanted garden. Everything was pastel colored, which boded well with the weather that day-not too sunny, not too cold. Even the universe wanted this fake wedding to happen.

The girls arranged everything-an arc in the middle where the Penny and Sheldon would exchange vows, ribbons on the lawn chairs to make it a little more elegant, flower petals scattered in the middle of the chairs to mark the aisle. The bridesmaids wore pastel pink gowns to match the setting, while the groomsmen matched with their ties. "It's perfect," Penny whispered to the girls as she readied herself to walk down the aisle. "It's so colorful."

"Pretty, huh?" Missy asked. "We planned everything, from the colors to where the chairs would face."

Penny smiled. "Yeah. Thank you." The band-a string quartet Missy got from her old high school-started to play, and the bridesmaids started walking. Once they were done, the band changed songs, and Sheldon was treated with the view of Penny walking down the aisle straight to him. He was so entranced-even if he didn't have an eidetic memory, he could remember this moment forever.

Penny's father handed her over to Sheldon with a smile. "Hey," she greeted him. "Nice suit."

"You too," Sheldon answered, then paused, realizing what he said. "I meant, you look beautiful."

The two looked at Howard, who had volunteered to officiate the wedding. "Sheldon and Penny, you have been friends for so long now that I don't think I can remember a time when you two weren't in each other's lives. However, the road you two have traveled together hasn't been exactly smooth. Leonard, Raj and I have been witnesses to almost all your fights-when Penny wouldn't submit to Sheldon's crazy demands, or whenever Sheldon would think that Penny is deliberately making his life a living hell. We have been witnesses to Penny's banishment, to Sheldon's stint in jail because of Penny, to the time when Sheldon thought it would be funny to hang Penny's undergarments on a pole outside the apartment." Mary Cooper glared at her son during that part. She remember having to talk her son's ear off that night.

"But the crazy part is, you two had a lot of good moments, too, which we have also witnessed over the years. Even when you were at each other's throats, you cared for each other. After a fight, you made your way back. You understand each other in a way none of us have figured out. You stuck by each other's sides no matter how extremely difficult _someone_ was being. And most of all, you ended up loving each other. To this day we're not sure how that had happened, but we're sure that it did." Howard gestured for Penny to say her vows.

Penny took a moment to look at Sheldon's face-his expression was so sincere she almost wanted to run. She took a deep breath instead and started with her own vows. "They say that love that began with friendship is the purest, strongest, best love there is. I used to believe that that was full of crap, but now that I'm here standing before you I am starting to realize that it's true." She took his hand and slipped a ring on his finger.

Sheldon looked into her eyes before he spoke. "Penny-you have been my friend from the beginning. You're one of the very few people whom I can trust, and for that, I am extremely grateful for your understanding. I know that it took me a long time to finally see you as my friend, but once I did, I knew I had made the right decision. I promise to always make you happy-as happy as you make me."

He was so lost in the moment that he did not hear Howard say his next lines; he felt, however, the touch of Penny's lips to his, familiar and comfortable.

And with that, he realized that there wasn't a single word in his vow that he didn't mean.


	7. Chapter 7

Meemaw was all smiles as Sheldon approached her.

Actually, she had been smiling for the last two hours.

"Shelly, you were amazing up there!" She gushed over her favorite grandson. "Congratulations, sweetie." Sheldon gave her a smile and bent down to give her a hug.

"I always knew you and Penny would end up together. I never thought Amy was right for you," she said as Sheldon pulled a chair to sit by her. "Penny was so beautiful!"

Sheldon nodded. "She is."

Meemaw went on and on-how proud she was of him, how beautiful the ceremony was, how Penny was good for him. He kept silent, happy that his beloved meemaw was, well, happy. "I knew my Moonpie would find someone! Your brother and your sister said you wouldn't, but here we are!"

Sheldon found himself scanning the room looking for Penny. It was hard not having her in his line of sight. He wanted to make sure she was safe all the time. Safe and happy.

Two hours, and he was already acting like a husband.

"Do you really like her, meemaw?" He asked. "Who wouldn't?" She replied.

Penny looked around and met his eyes. She excused herself from her family and went towards Sheldon. "Hi, meemaw," she greeted with a big smile. "Uh, I can call you that, can I?"

"Of course," she replied. "Congratulations, dear. All the best in your marriage." She glanced down at the ring on her finger. _Right._ "Thanks! Did you like it? Missy and the girls planned the whole thing."

Meemaw gestured for her to sit on the chair beside Sheldon. "I liked it very much," she replied. "But in my opinion, it's not the wedding that matters-it's the marriage. You could spend a hundred million dollars for your wedding but if you don't do right by your partner then it would have been for nothing." Penny was listening so intently, trying not to show any indication that the whole thing was an act. "Plus, divorces cost much more than a wedding. More so if you have kids!"

Kids? "That's really great advice," Penny replied. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now, before you go, I'm going to give you some advice on how to make a marriage last," meemaw continued. "First, never go to bed angry. That's basic. Second, choose your battles. Don't make a fuss over the simplest things. And third..." she smirked. "Have lots, and I mean lots, of hot, steamy, sex."

If Penny were drinking right now she'd have spit on meemaw's face. Sheldon turned pale as a ghost. Meemaw just laughed at the expression of their faces.

Penny swallowed. No one has to know that there's absolutely no sex going on in this relationship. You'll be fine, she thought.

"Oh! And before I forget," meemaw reached in her purse and pulled out a envelope. "Here's my gift to you."

Sheldon, who was closer to her, took it from her hands. "What is it?"

"It's two plane tickets to Colorado. Mary and I took the liberty of finding you a cabin in the mountains for your-" Meemaw smirked. "Honeymoon."

 _Oh, no._

* * *

"Didn't expect that, did you," Penny snidely said as they fastened their seatbelts. From a shotgun wedding to a shotgun honeymoon in 24 hours.

"No," Sheldon replied. "I'm sorry."

Penny shrugged. "Yeah. I didn't expect that either. I didn't even know we'd get this far." She looked out the window as the plane started to move. "Why Colorado, anyway? Do you ski?"

"You know me well enough to know that I do not enjoy activities that involve physical exertion," he replied.

"Yeah, I know," she scoffed. "So, we're gonna be in a cabin in the mountains in Colorado, a place where it is too cold to do anything outside. Basically we're just stuck IN a cabin together."

"It would appear so," Sheldon replied, already dreading the trip.

"Is there going to be alcohol there at least?" Penny laughed.

Sheldon sighed. "I guess."

"Hey," Penny elbowed him slightly. "Don't be sad! It's gonna be fun! 3 days and 2 nights without internet and cable. It's like going back to nature."

"Penny." Sheldon looked at her. "You know me well enough to know that I do not enjoy activities that involve the outside."

"I know, I know." Like it or not, Penny did know him enough. Maybe more than enough-over the course of their "dating" she had managed to memorize his insane bathroom schedule. "So what, we're just going to stare at each other for the next few days?"

Sheldon turned in his seat to face her. "Wouldn't that be stupid?"

Okay, so he still hadn't grasped the entire concept of sarcasm. "We could have hot, steamy sex," she winked at him.

"Penny!" He jerked suddenly, embarassed. Penny just laughed beside him. "What? It's our honeymoon," she cooed. "Besides, we're gonna need a lot of hot and steamy if we'll be in a really cold place."

Sheldon squirmed in his seat. Penny said things like that to him all the time, but he can never tell if she was joking or not.

Oh, and right now he can't tell if he wanted her to be joking or not. What was the phrase... hot and bothered?

See, Sheldon? Screwed.

"Um," he stammered. This was all meemaw's doing, putting ideas like that into Penny's head. It was horrifying.

Penny watched him scramble for words to say-she could feel the gears in his brain working full time-amused at his speechlessness. For a man who always had something to say, he was awfully quiet. "Um..."

She finally took pity on Sheldon-she could feel his discomfort. "Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry I freaked you out," she said, putting her head on his shoulder. Years ago he would have told Penny to stay out of his personal space, but now he was just surprised that her head fits so snugly on his shoulder.

She fell asleep after a couple of minutes. He realized he would have to stay still for the rest of the flight-or at least until she wakes up-but as long as she was comfortable, he was, too.


	8. Chapter 8

The cabin was absolutely lovely. Meemaw thought of _everything._

Penny could swear the cabin looked nicer than her apartment back at Pasadena. It had a wonderful kitchen, a huge living room with a functional fireplace, and a bathroom with a rainfall shower and a tub that could fit two people (probably. She didn't want to find out.)

She sat on the couch-and put her feet up on the coffee table, which earned her a glare from Sheldon-exhausted, as Sheldon checked everything-and she meant _everything-_ around the cabin. Did every faucet work? Did every door open? Were there smoke detectors? Were there emergency exits? Were all the pillows and cushions clean-"Sheldon!?" She exclaimed suddenly. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Vacuuming." She looked at him in disbelief as he tried to vacuum the cushion she was currently sitting on. "Really? You couldn't have asked me to move?" She asked.

"Would you have moved if I had asked?" He shot back.

Penny pursed her lips. "Fair point."

She sighed as he lifted her legs to pass. "Lean forward." She groaned but complied anyway, and sighed again as Sheldon passed his handheld vacuum cleaner over the couch.

She would have put up a fight if her back and arms and legs weren't killing her. First of all, she hated sitting on planes-they were uncomfortable and, sitting on a window seat, her legs had nowhere to go. Second, Sheldon had asked her to drive a rental car, first to the grocery store to get "supplies" then to the damn woods. Then she had to bring her bags, his bags, and the groceries to the inside of the cabin, which was a five minute walk from where they had parked. Five minutes isn't a long time, she figured, unless of course you're bringing stuff that could dress and feed a whole goddamn country.

"You could at least help me," Penny complained as they reached the door to the cabin. "What do you have in your suitcase?!"

She wiped her brow, amazed how, even in a cold place, one could sweat this much. But then again, SHE was carrying his luggage.

"I can't carry heavy things, Penny. And even if I can, I don't want to." Sheldon replied, earning him a glare from Penny.

"Can you at least open the door?" She said in a tone more commanding than asking.

That was it. That was all he had contributed so far.

Although he _is_ cleaning the whole house. When you're living with Sheldon, one thing is for certain: you'll never get bedbugs.

"Have you ever gone skiing?" She asked. Sheldon's vacuum was still whirring away.

"I have," he replied. "In fact, I have proven to be quite good at it."

She turned her head to look at him in amazement. "What! No way," she laughed.

"Oh, yes," he turned his vacuum off so she could hear him better. "I was dragged by my sister and we had skiied all day. By the time we went home I had mastered the sport."

Penny raised her eyebrows. "But... you hate sports."

"I do. But with my IQ and memory I am able to learn new things in a relatively short amount of time. Sports included. I don't play them-I can't-but I know how they work." He turned the vacuum back on as he finished with the bedroom. "Have you skiied, Penny?"

"No," she admitted. "Snow wasn't my thing."

He paused for a moment as if absorbing what she'd said. "Well. Remind me to set an alarm for tomorrow morning so I can teach you."

And the tables have turned.

* * *

Sheldon usually allots 30 minutes of his time just to make sure his bed is up to his standards. He checks the sheets, he fluffs the pillows and lays them down side by side, insanely straight. He makes sure the duvet and the comforter don't have creases-he'd iron them if they did-then he lays down in the middle of the bed.

This time was no different. 30 minutes-checking, straightening. It was a bigger bed than he was used to (after all, it was a honeymoon suite kinda cabin, but he was so tired that as soon as he settled himself right smack in the middle of the bed, he felt himself already drifting off.

"Okay, seriously?" Sheldon heard Penny's voice, but at this point, he didn't know if he was dreaming or not.

"Sheldon." She spoke again. Confused, Sheldon lifted his sleep mask up to his forehead. "What?"

Penny was at the foot of the bed, standing with her arms crossed. "Move."

"Move?" Sheldon repeated, clearly not understanding.

"Move," she replied. "We're not going to fit in there if you don't move to one side."

He squinted. "Sleep on the couch."

"I'm not sleeping on the freaking couch," she replied. "I carried your luggage-and mine-from the airport to this room, I ache everywhere, and I don't fit on the couch. Move."

"But I always sleep in the middle of the bed! That way I don't fall off," he replied petulantly.

"Yeah, and I always sleep alone." She sighed. "I need my space, Sheldon. I move a lot, unlike you, you zombie weirdo. You don't want me smacking your face in the middle of the night, do you?"

He's falling asleep, she realized. For a second, she looked at Sheldon's position. She could lie beside him at either side, but the space will be too small for her to stretch her arms and legs in slumber, and if she'd turn to her side, she would be sleeping on his chest.

God, no.

"Okay then." She crawled on top of the bed... then on top of Sheldon. She carefully sat on his legs, waking him up in alarm.

"What are you doing!" He exclaimed, but he couldn't move as she sat with her full weight.

"I'm not getting down unless you move your ass to one side," Penny replied. "I can do this all night, you know. Or not-maybe I'll just fall asleep on top of you." She shrugged.

Sheldon sighed, irritated that she interrupted his sleep twice already. "Fine. Get off."

As promised, Penny lifted herself off to roll over to his left, and he awkwardly moved to the other side. "Easy, right?" Penny said as soon as she settled in.

Sheldon tried his best to feel comfortable. He always slept in the middle of the bed. But he was too exhausted to argue with a stubborn person like Penny, so he covered hisr eyes with the sleep mask and soon fell asleep.

It wasn't until he woke up the next morning that he realized he had somehow moved to the middle of the bed in his sleep, and that Penny, who moves a lot during the night, finally settled down when she managed to put her arm around him.

* * *

 **AN: Oh my god I am SO sorry I was gone for so long! I was on vacation and didn't have internet (worst two weeks of my life, you guys), but worry not, because I will be updating the hell out of this fic in the next few hours. :-)**


	9. Chapter 9

True to his word, Sheldon woke Penny up at five in the morning, giving her ample time to get ready. She protested at first-she threw pillows at him, hid under the comforter, pretended not to wake up even as he repeatedly knocked on the headboard-but finally gave up at five fifteen. "Why so early?" She asked as she dragged herself to the shower.

"Because I knew it would take time for me to convince you to get up, and I know that it will take even more time for you to shower and get ready." Sheldon replied as he took out his winter clothes. Thermal everything, including underwear, a sweater, a thick scarf, a coat, earmuffs, boots, gloves, a mask, and a hat. He didn't like being too cold.

Next he went to the kitchen to make breakfast-protein-rich bacon and eggs. He also worked the coffee maker for Penny, knowing that she'll hate him if he didn't make her coffee. He poured a glass of orange juice for himself, then said a mental "Good job, Sheldon" for convincing Penny to stop by at a grocery store.

Penny appeared from the bedroom already dressed in her thermals and sweater. "Are you wearing make-up?" Sheldon asked incredulously.

"What? A girl can look good skiing," she replied as she sat on the table. "Did you cook?" He nodded.

She took a bite. "So what do we do today, I mean, where do we start?" She asked. He smiled; her foul mood from earlier has been replaced with... excitement?

"Well, we will have to start with the basics. I'll tell you how to choose a track, how to wear your boots, and how to use the skiis and the poles. Then we'll go out to the bunny hill." He replied, polishing off his breakfast.

Penny nodded. "Will we get to ride the cable car things?" She asked.

"They're called chairlifts, and yes." He replied, watching and waiting for her to finish.

"This isn't going to be like the time you taught me about physics, right?" Penny glared at him as she recalled how hard of a time he gave her that one night she had asked about physics.

He matched her glare with his own. "Well if you'd listen to me, it wouldn't be."

"Wow," she muttered.

Penny had excused herself at that moment to brush her teeth, so he fixed them a bag with all the things they're going to need. Sheldon had brought his own boots and skiis and the cabin had extras for Penny, so they were set. He waited patiently in the living room, wondering for a second what he was doing teaching Penny how to ski. He knew deep down that he'd rather be inside the warm cabin, not out freezing his butt off, but he wanted Penny to, well, have fun on their trip. He owed her that much.

When they were still "dating," she had made him do things he wasn't comfortable doing, like walking barefoot on a beach. She hadn't forced him to do that-he wanted to do it because she was doing it and he knew she would have a grand time if he started just walking on the beach beside her. It took her almost half an hour just to get him to leave his shoes in her car, but she kept calm and encouraged him until he realized he didn't mind sand between his toes. She didn't lose her temper with him like she used to years before. That afternoon she was just patient and kind.

That afternoon he had realized just how badly he had treated her. He had mocked her for being "dumb," even though she weren't. He had disregarded her feelings and insulted her even though all she do was try to help him. He had been horrible to the one person who had tolerated him for the past ten years without trying to change a part of his being.

So now, instead of staying inside the warm cabin, he would risk freezing outside for Penny to not hate him.

He wanted her to do the opposite.

"Ready?" He asked as soon as she appeared. As she nodded, he handed her the boots, skis, and poles, starting to explain how they worked.

* * *

"Scared?" He taunted Penny as soon as she stepped into her skis on the soft snow. She shook her head. "No," she replied, her thick mask muffling the sound.

That was one of the things he admired about her. She was _fearless._

"Okay, then. The first thing you have to learn is how to walk with your skis." He said as she started to demonstrate. Penny looked at him, amazed how good he was, and how she never knew that he knew how to ski. "Walk? Do we really have to walk?" She asked.

Sheldon looked at her. "Of course. Before you start skiing downhill, you have to walk to position yourself. And for after you fall, when you get up."

"I'm not gonna fall," Penny replied, and he smirked. "You say that now." He turned to face her. "Okay. Walk."

Penny sighed and started walking towards Sheldon, mimicking his demonstration. "Am I doing it?" She asked.

"Yes." He was actually proud of her. She was fearless _and_ understood directions. "Next you'll learn to slide down. You bend your knees..."

Okay, Penny had to admit that she was a little bit scared. They had been on a low point for some time now, but she knew that later he would take them to the top of the hill so that they could slide down to the bottom, and to have to do that for the first time in her life was just downright _terrifying._

But she wasn't a quitter, especially not in front of Sheldon.

In all fairness, he had been kind with her so far, which was kind of not Sheldon-y. She's lived a few feet away from the man for ten years now and never has she seen him so... tolerant of her. Well, a girl can get used to that.

"...going to the chairlift." Penny realized that she had been spacing out. "We're going to the top?" She asked.

He looked at her as if she didn't hear a word he said (to be fair, she didn't). "Yes."

She swallowed. "Okay."

He led her to the chairlifts, allowing her to walk on her own in her skis. "You guys ready?" The operator asked. Sheldon nodded and gestured to Penny. "Hold the poles in one hand so you can support yourself when you sit."

She watched the chair lift come, and Sheldon gently guided her to the seat before he got in. "This is the beautiful part," he said as they started their ascent.

It was, Penny thought. The blue of the sky and the white of the snow made for a beautiful picture. "Woah," she gasped.

"Pretty, right?" He said quietly, as if he was musing about something.

"Yeah," she replied. "I didn't know a snowy mountain can be this beautiful."

He nodded. "Beauty can be found even in the most seemingly mundane things, Penny."

She looked at him and smiled. "Yeah. You're right."

Penny admired the view for the rest of the ascent. Her eyes lit up and her smile reached her ears as they climbed higher and higher. She was sure she would never forget the time she went skiing with Sheldon on their honeymoon in Colorado-the view was that breathtaking.

But Sheldon?

He was just looking at her the whole time.


	10. Chapter 10

Penny had never been much of a cook. Not because she was bad at it, but because she was too lazy to bother.

Even before she was in the boys' lives she had survived on fast food. Quesadillas from Taco Bell or chicken burgers from McDonald's or, when she was in need of extra calories (read: boy problems), a huge cheeseburger from Five Guys. Then the boys moved in and they had Chinese take-out or pizza or Thai on a regular basis every week. To Penny, it was a huge upgrade from the fast food dinners she'd been used to.

Before the boys she was certain she can't possibly eat the same kind of food again and again every week for the next ten years, but to her surprise, she actually liked the consistency. And, like Sheldon, her digestive system appreciated it too.

Tonight, however, she wanted to not have pizza like they would in Pasadena. She made spaghetti with the cut up hotdogs and opened a bottle of wine to go with it. Oh, and she opened a carton of milk for Sheldon, too. If it's not soda, it would have to be fresh milk.

"Did you make dinner?" He asked as he walked out of the living room and into the kitchen, where she was preparing the sauce. She turned to face him. "Yeah. Spaghetti with the hotdogs."

She saw his huge grin before she turned around to finish her sauce. "Will you set the table for me please?" She asked, and Sheldon immediately went to work, setting the plates and the utensils down with utmost care.

"Dinner's ready!" She exclaimed as she put food down on the plates.

Sheldon smiled as he looked at his plate with amusement. "Spaghetti with the cut up hotdogs," he mused.

"Yeah." She poured herself a glass of wine. "I haven't forgotten."

It was true-she hadn't forgotten that fateful night that she and Sheldon shared dinner alone for the first time. She got mad when he admitted that he had had dinner before coming over, and that he didn't tell her because he didn't want her to hate Leonard, but at the same time she was touched that he had done it. It only goes to show how Sheldon would do anything for his friends.

"Me neither." He replied as he dug into his pasta.

Penny dreaded asking him her next question, not after he had been so nice to her during the past few weeks. Being Sheldon's wife was proving to be a lot of fun. "So... Where do we go from here?"

To her surprise, Sheldon seemed genuinely rattled by the question, as if he never thought about it. "Well..." Penny sensed his discomfort and was suddenly sorry she asked. "I mean, you don't have to answer it now... I was just... Planning ahead, I guess."

"I know," Sheldon replied. "Sorry."

She squinted at him, then realized that he couldn't make eye contact with her. "Are you having fun with me, Sheldon?" She teased. He remained silent, feeling blood rushing to his cheeks. "Oh my god-are you?! You are!" Penny knew Sheldon hated it when she teased him, but she couldn't help herself. Sheldon had his eyes fixed on his food the whole time, trying to ignore her.

"You know you're blushing, right?" Penny stated, more of an observation than a question. "Oh, Sheldon," she giggled before taking a sip of her wine.

After a few seconds, Sheldon straightened and looked at her. "Would you like an honest answer, Penny?"

"That would be great," she replied, serious now. Ten years, and Penny knew when it was time to stop messing with him.

"Alright." He finished his glass of milk before speaking. "When I asked you to be in this position with me, I did not expect anything from you. I did not expect anything from myself. I wanted to make you feel comfortable with this arrangement, so I took you out. That was it,"

Penny sighed as she remembered their dates. She was comfortable, alright. "But then everything changed, and now every time I'd take you out, I would feel as if I were meeting you again for the first time. There was always something old to reminisce about, or something new to learn. And you would teach me things-from pop culture icons to the simple joys of walking barefoot on a beach. And I wanted then to do the same with you, so I taught you how to ski, which you were surprisingly good at, by the way,"

She flashed him a proud grin. "So to answer your question, yes, I have been having fun with you. Otherwise I wouldn't have gotten here with you."

There were bells in Penny's head now-warning bells telling her to run. She never meant for that to happen, either. She was cool and casual with him-right? "Sheldon..."

He stood to put his plate in the sink, once again ignoring Penny and what she had to say. She stood and followed him, then settled by his right side. "Sweetie, no feelings, remember?" Her chest pounded as she said the words.

"Don't worry," he turned to face her. "I know."

* * *

At the Cooper household, everyone was preparing to sleep. Missy had put the dishes in the dishwasher and was struggling to close the door-she knew she should have fixed the position of the plates inside but got too lazy to bother. "That is a problem for another day," she muttered as she finally pushed the door closed.

She then shut the lights off in the kitchen then walked to the living room, but before she could turn the lights off, she saw Meemaw lying unconscious right smack in the middle of the room.

"Goddamn it," she muttered as she checked for a pulse, finding a slow, weak, one, but a pulse nevertheless. "Mom!" She screamed, almost panicking, until she heard Mary run down the stairs.

"What is it-oh, dear Lord," she exclaimed, freezing as she saw them.

Missy stood. "Mom, call 911," she sighed. "I'm calling Sheldon."

* * *

 **AN: Okay I'm sorry I have to do this to y'all! We finally arrive at the climax of the story. Tune in for more! (Lol)**

 **Reviews are always appreciated ;-)**


	11. Chapter 11

Penny knew what it was as soon as she saw Sheldon's expression when he hung up the phone. She sighed, contemplating what was probably the weirdest goddamned dinner ever.

"We have to pack," Sheldon said somberly, and she nodded in response.

She went into the bedroom and started putting her clothes into her bag, trying not to think about Sheldon or Meemaw, although she was concerned for both. Feelings of confusion or not, she was going to have to be strong for her _husband._

She finished quickly, and she looked over at Sheldon who was meticulously packing his things. She knew he was hurting, but it would be a cold day in hell before he'd let anyone see through his mask of self-reliance. "You need help, sweetie?"

"No," he replied quietly. "Will you go with me, though? To Texas?"

She smiled. "Of course."

Penny held his hand as they walked out of the cabin, and she was surprised that he let her. "Sorry we have to leave early," he said as he pulled the door of the cabin closed.

"That's alright," Penny replied. "I had a great honeymoon." She smiled up and him, then sighed before giving in and pulling him into a hug. "Look, Sheldon, I had a lot of fun with you too, but you do understand that we're just friends, right? Even if this weren't temporary, we'd get sick of each other and we'd fight a lot like we always did before all this happened... and we'd grow to hate each other. And I love you too much to hate you."

He rested his chin on the top of her head. "Me too."

Penny sighed again as she pulled away. "But for now, let's go see Meemaw, alright? We'll figure this out."

* * *

The moment they entered the room Meemaw was in, Penny got a bad feeling. She was lying in the bed asleep, and she couldn't help but notice how frail and thin she had gotten since they first met years ago. She looked tiny, and the bed she was lying on and the wires connected to her body seemed to engulf her.

"How is she?" Sheldon asked as he sat by the foot of the bed. "Stable for now," Missy replied. Penny sat in the vacant chair, feeling suddenly strange that she was surrounded by the Cooper family. She didn't know whether it was the turbulent flight or her dinner with Sheldon or the jarring silence between them in the car or being in the presence of the family she was pretending now to be part of that is making her uncomfortable.

Mary, who was sitting on the chair beside her, put her hand over hers. "Your Meemaw would hate that you had to fly back early cause of this," she said, and Penny winced. _Your Meemaw._

"Well, we can't not see her," she replied. As concerned as she was about Meemaw, being in the room unnerved her.

She watched Sheldon, although he was so still he looked as if he wasn't even breathing. Meemaw was his most favorite person in the world, and she could just imagine how devastated he would be if Meemaw dies. It was endearing, their relationship. Meemaw understood Sheldon better than the rest of his family combined.

"Sheldon," she jumped as she heard the faint, unmistakable voice. "Hi, Meemaw," she said as she went and sat beside Sheldon on the bed, with Missy and Mary following suit.

"You're not supposed to be here yet!" Meemaw looked horrified, as if the honeymoon mattered more than her being in a hospital.

Sheldon was the first to speak. "You had a heart attack! Of course we would be here," he replied, sounding exactly like his Meemaw.

"Oh," Meemaw scoffed. "Hi, Penny," she said as she noticed her. "Did you have a great time?"

Penny felt Sheldon look at her. "Yeah I did!" She replied as enthusiastically as she could. "Sheldon taught me how to ski," she said, which made Meemaw smile proudly.

"Is that it?" Meemaw said as she winked. "Mother!" Mary chastised her, which made all of them laugh. Even sick, Meemaw was a charming person. Well, the Coopers were a charming people anyway.

Seeing and hearing the Coopers bantering made Penny feel even worse. She finally realized what she was actually feeling: guilt. Meemaw didn't-doesn't-deserve this kind of deception. She had grown to love the woman (and the whole family, to be completely honest), and she was beginning to realize that this farce she was playing with Sheldon wasn't right. For the first time in this whole ordeal, she hated Sheldon for thinking that playing his old, dying grandmother would solve his problems.

"Um," she bit her lip. "Would you excuse me? I'll be right back."


	12. Chapter 12

Sheldon knew something was wrong when he realized Penny hadn't been back for the past 30 minutes, so he got up and left the room, intending on finding her. He walked around the ward, even asking the nurses if they had seen her go somewhere. One nurse finally pointed to the women's comfort room, saying that she saw someone matching his description come in there almost a half an hour ago. He thanked her, and walked over to the door, knocking three times.

He could hear someone crying inside and knew immediately that it was Penny crying from he believed was inside a stall, so he sighed and entered the comfort room not caring he wasn't even supposed to be there. There was no one in the comfort room, which helped him find the stall she was in. "Penny?" He said, facing the closed door.

"Sheldon why are you _here_?" She replied. "Go away."

He sighed. "I am not going away unless you tell me what is going on. Open the door," he commanded.

"No," Penny replied, wiping her tears. She hated drying, even more when people saw her cry. She was always told that it was a sign of weakness, and although she didn't believe it, it was instilled in her brain so deeply she rarely did it.

Sheldon touched the door. "Penny, please open the door," he almost pleaded. He had never admitted it, but he had seen Penny cry many times over the past years. The only times he hated Leonard so intensely were the times he had done something to make Penny cry. Although now he hated himself more, knowing that he is part of what is making her cry on the other side of the door.

She finally unlocked the door, and Sheldon pushed it open to see Penny sitting on the toilet, tears running down her face.

Normally, Sheldon would have ran for the hills at this point. He hated public toilets, and he hated hospitals. Now he was inside a stall in a public toilet in a hospital, which, in his book, is a million times worse. But he looked at Penny, and their eyes locked, and he walked the few feet to get to her, germs and diseases be damned. He even knelt in front of her so he can see her better. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"What's wrong is you dragged me here expecting me to act like this is fine even though it sure as hell not," Penny replied, wiping her tears.

Sheldon looked confused for a moment. "You said you'd go with me to Texas..."

"No, not that!" Penny shook her head. "I don't think we should have done this. This whole fake marriage thing. I was looking at your Meemaw and your mom and your sister and I just feel so bad lying to them, Sheldon. I can't live a lie for who knows how long? Besides, did you see how happy they all were at the wedding? They would be so devastated. They would hate me," she sobbed.

For a man who always had something to say, he struggled to find the words to answer her. Still kneeling, he took both her hands as he thought about his family, and how happy they were indeed, seeing him with Penny at the wedding. As soon as they got married they had treated her as if she had been in the family for a very long time, and it was so genuine that Penny teared up in appreciation. He understood immediately why she now felt guilty that she was actually betraying them.

"If Meemaw finds out, the shock will kill her before any heart attack will," she said, then realized she had been rude. "Sorry." They heard footsteps, and both their eyes widened in shock before they broke into silent giggles.

* * *

Penny and Sheldon finally exited the stall, and was greeted by Missy standing by one of the sinks, arms crossed and with a sinister look on her face. "Fake marriage? Seriously?"

"Missy-" Penny started, but Missy cut her off by raising her hand. "You know what, Penny? I actually don't blame you for this, congratulations." She turned her attention to Sheldon. " _You,_ however, are a stupid, stupid man."

"No, I am most certainly am not," Sheldon replied as Penny clutched his arm, suddenly scared of Missy's menacing look. "Yuh-uh," Missy replied. "Stupid, stupid man. What the _hell_ were you thinking?! That you would create a fake marriage because Meemaw's dying and that was her dying wish? The woman loves you, Sheldon! She would have understood if your crazy ass couldn't land a wife!"

Sheldon considered that for a moment. "Um..."

"Oh, oh, and Penny-" Missy pointed at her. "You know what, forget what I said, I kinda blame you a little bit. Why'd you agree to this?"

Penny swallowed. "Well... He made a good point.." She looked down. "And he told me I was pretty."

"Oh, dear Lord," Missy sighed. "What exactly was the point he had driven at?"

Penny looked at Sheldon before answering. "Well, Sheldon here thought that he would sacrifice his own, uh, dignity, so that Meemaw could die happy. You know, when her time would come," Penny cringed at her words. She felt Sheldon soften, and she released his arm before she started to talk again. "Look, Missy, he loves his Meemaw more than anyone in the world, and you're right; Meemaw would have understood if his "crazy ass couldn't land a wife," she said, complete with air quotes. "But he wanted to give Meemaw the only thing she had ever asked from him. He wanted to show her his love of her for what could be his last time."

Missy rubbed her forehead for a few seconds, exasperated. "Jesus!" She exclaimed, letting out all her frustration. "What are your plans? Are you going to keep doing this?"

"Yeah, until Meemaw dies, probably. God, I'm sorry I'm so morbid," Penny replied, to which Missy responded with a shrug. "We have a contract and everything," Sheldon continued.

"Of course you do." Missy replied with a fake smile. "Walk me through, please? Jesus. How you managed to fool everyone is _beyond_ me."

Sheldon sighed. "Well, we remain married. Then we can get it annulled so it would look like it had never happened. Meemaw would get her wish, and we could go our separate ways."

"Then what?" Missy replied.

"And then nothing," Sheldon shrugged. "Because that's all there is."

Penny detected a hint of sadness in his reply, but she figured now is not the time to get all sentimental and weepy. "Look, Missy, I know how insane all this is and believe me, I wish I could take it back, but Sheldon and I have gotten this figured out and we'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone. Please?"

"Fine," she replied. "But if this goes to crap then I'm out." She smiled. "Now go back to Meemaw's room, you _happy couple_ you. You've been gone so long Meemaw thinks you had sex somewhere in the hospital."

* * *

 **AN: Aaaand we have only just begun. We're far from the end, people! ;)**

 **TBBT's not mine! And reviews are _always_ appreciated. Thanks for the reviews so far! Loving them. :-) **


	13. Chapter 13

Penny breathed a sigh of relief when Meemaw's doctor came in the next day saying she was ready to get discharged. She had stayed with the Coopers the entire night, and was getting more uncomfortable as time went by. Missy kept shooting her glances, as if afraid she was going to say something wrong and mess up the whole thing. Penny kept her silence the whole time.

"You hear that, Meemaw? You're getting discharged today!" Sheldon excitedly said as soon as the doctor shut the door. Meemaw grinned, feeling ultimately better. "I sure am, Moonpie. See? I told you both you shouldn't have gone back yesterday," she replied, glancing at Sheldon then Penny.

Penny smiled. "And we told you that you couldn't have stopped us," she replied. Meemaw took Penny's hand. "Do you have to go back to Pasadena so soon?"

Sheldon and Penny exchanged looks, and as if reading each other's mind, they both shook their heads. "We can stay for a while, I guess," Penny said with a shrug.

Meemaw clapped her hands. "Oh, fantastic!" She grasped Penny's hand tighter. "We have _so much_ to talk about."

"We do," Penny replied, smiling awkwardly.

Mary interrupted them as she walked over to Meemaw. "Guess we have to settle the paperwork so we can go," she said, prompting Meemaw to release Penny. "Missy, will you come with me to the nurses' station, dear?" At Missy's nod, they headed out, leading the couple with Meemaw in the room.

"You're gonna have to tell me _everything,"_ Meemaw said, enthusiastic as ever. Penny had to take a sip of water to keep herself from reacting.

Sheldon cleared his throat. "That can wait," he replied. "Penny and I... will have to rest for quite a while first."

Meemaw's eyes lit up. "Oh, right! Of course!" Sheldon looked at Penny, and Penny gave him a see-what-I-told-you look. "I'll be out of your hair soon as we get back."

Sheldon hesitated. What he meant was he and Penny need to talk about this whole thing. They haven't been alone since the plane (though they spent the flight in silence) or the comfort room (which wasn't comfortable either-Sheldon's knees were _killing_ him), and he wanted to talk to rational, not crying Penny. For the first time in his life he thanked God he had to share a room with someone.

Or maybe that wasn't just the reason, but that's a whole different story altogether.

"Did you really teach Penny how to ski?" Meemaw obviously wanted to be caught up. Penny nodded. "Yeah, he did! And he must be a really good skiier cause I learned a lot."

Meemaw looked proudly at her grandson. "He is," she cooed. "I don't know if it's the eidetic memory but he's really good at everything he tries to do." Penny nodded again. "He did say that."

"When he was a young boy his mother enrolled him to different classes. Piano, cotillion dancing, skiing, cooking... you name it. Of course, his true passion was science," Meemaw said fondly, remembering Sheldon as a child. "Knew since he was in pre-school. But all those lessons? He remembers them all."

Sheldon nodded. "I remember the dread I felt sitting down for those classes too, Meemaw," he said disdainfully.

"Oh, but you did become a good dancer, though," Meemaw replied, and Sheldon smiled, red creeping up his cheeks. "You'll know, Penny, you've danced with him!"

Penny giggled. "I have, yeah. We didn't need dance lessons before the wedding."

Meemaw's look of pride at Sheldon never left her face. "He used to dance me all the time, practicing for the cotillion," she reminisced. "It was either me or Missy, and they hated each other," Meemaw laughed. "So I was his dancing partner. It helped that he was already taller than me that time."

Penny watched Meemaw and Sheldon, again amazed at the relationship they had. This was how she knew Meemaw really considered her to be part of the family-because she was hearing all sorts of childhood stories of Sheldon. Parents-and, in this case, grandmothers-don't say things like that to the person their son is dating-or, again in this case, is married to-unless they absolutely like that person.

Acting lessons were now money in the drain to Penny. No amount of acting lessons could have trained her for this.

* * *

The first thing that came into Penny's head as soon as they reached the bedroom is "damn, Sheldon's bed is tiny."

She sat on a chair by his study table as he started his meticulous ritual of cleaning every single square inch of the room. It brought her back to Colorado, and she sat there hypnotized as she remembered the first time she'd had to share a bed with her _husband._

"You know I can't stay here any longer, right?" Penny said as soon as he turned off the vacuum cleaner. "It's tiring, putting up with a charade like this. This is _your family,_ " she emphasized. "Besides, how many more childhood stories can Meemaw share about you? Jesus, too much information!" She bit her lip, remembering Meemaw's story of Sheldon using his dad's hair to style his hair like Einstein did... and not _just_ for halloween.

"Believe me, Penny, I am just as uncomfortable as you at that aspect," he sighed and switched to his handheld vacuum to clean the bed. "Let's give it two days. Then we go back to Pasadena."

She sighed. "Fine."

They heard a knock on the door. "Hey, you two loverbirds," Missy crooned outside. Penny stood to open the door and was greeted to Sheldon's sister smiling widely. "Hello," Penny cautiously greeted.

"Hello," Missy greeted back, and, noticing Sheldon, said, "Hey, weirdo." She turned back to Penny. "Wanna come drinking with me?" She asked.

Penny raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Oh man, married life has got to you, huh. Drinking, Penny. You know, like alcohol," she laughed. "Come on, let's have a few drinks and I'll bring you back to your precious husband. It's not like he's gonna finish cleaning soon."

"Uh, okay," Penny took her purse. "Bye, Sheldon." He looked up from his vacuuming. "Bye."

Missy rolled her eyes. "How sweet," she remarked sarcastically. "Let's go."

Missy drove the two of them to a bar, where she immediately ordered two beers. "Beer first. Hard later, okay?" She asked Penny, who was still too freaked out to answer. Missy chugged her beer before speaking. "Penny, don't be scared of me or something. I'm not gonna kill you, you know. I kinda like you."

"Thanks... I guess?" Penny said as she took her beer. "I'm guessing you brought me here cause of Sheldon?"

"Oh, well, no," Missy shrugged. "I just don't have someone to drink with on a night I feel like drinking, you know? Mama doesn't drink, and certainly not Meemaw. And then I'm left with Sheldon. I'm not drinking with him again," she said with a laugh.

"Again?" Penny asked, now more relaxed.

Missy finished her beer. _The woman is a heavy drinker,_ Penny remarked. "I got him drunk once. We were sixteen. He was already in college and he came home and he was telling all these stories of his classmates inviting him to party or something, and of course he said no. So I said, "you're a wuss, Sheldon," and I took my dad's bourbon and practically force-fed him."

"That is horrible," Penny muttered.

Missy shrugged. "Yeah, well, I know that _now_ ," She started laughing. "Poor guy kept talking on and on. He cried, like, for hours. Then he puked on me. And that was only after four shots."

"Oh, man," Penny laughed, although she felt bad for Sheldon. "I got him drunk once too. He took off his pants in front of hundreds of people."

Missy scoffed. "Oh, honey. Based on the YouTube hits, he just mooned a couple thousand."

Penny laughed, and Missy kept the drinks coming. They were acting like they were real sisters-in-law. Jesus. "Learned my lesson, though. Sheldon told me how much he hated me for bullying him all through his life, and how he wished he had absorbed me in the womb or something. So I made a mental promise not to be so mean," Missy said.

"Yeah, he told me that too, that he wished he had absorbed you. Twins do that apparently. He said even in utero you had been competing." Penny replied.

Missy smiled. "Uh-huh. I wouldn't have known that. I swear you gain IQ points just being in the same vicinity as the man," She ordered a tequila for her and Penny. "Cheers," they said as they lifted their glasses.

Missy wasn't kidding about the "hard later." About an hour later, Penny was drunk. "Missy," she slurred. "I think I'm in trouble." Missy, suddenly concerned, turned to Penny. "What? Why?"

Penny was seeing double now, the bar was spinning, and she knew from experience this meant she was going to pass out soon. "Well, the trouble is," she muttered. "I think Sheldon's falling in love with me."

Missy slammed her glass on the bar, which earned her a dirty look from the bartender whom she dismissed with a wave. "What!" She exclaimed. "That's... What?"

"Oh, but there's more," Penny spoke again, so infuriatingly slowly. "I think... I think... I'm falling in love with him, too." Penny managed to spit out the last word before passing out.


	14. Chapter 14

Penny woke up with what was probably the worst hangover of her life.

Years ago she would have woken up, made coffee, taken a steaming hot shower, and gotten on with her day. That was years ago-when she was still drinking almost every night, drowning in her sorrows or whatnot. Now, since Sheldon had proposed to her, she hadn't gotten drunk. Not during a date, not after a date, not in the wedding reception, not in the honeymoon, not ever.

Until last night.

She felt as if she were a drug addict going through detox-there was an unpleasant, uncomfortable pain in her head and a constant need to vomit that never goes away. "God," she groaned, as if in prayer. Looking at the bedside table, she found a glass of water and some ibuprofen, which she downed faster than the shots she did yesterday.

"Good morning," Sheldon appeared in the doorway. Penny squinted at him, eyes still adjusting to the light. "Morning. Missy?"

Sheldon shrugged, then placed the tray he was holding on the bed beside her. "She's fine. Better than you are right now."

Penny sat up, fighting the nausea and the queasiness. "I brought you breakfast. I didn't think you'd wake up early so I thought I'd just bring it up here and leave it." Sheldon smiled, and she smiled back, amazed how he can still tolerate her. "Thank you." He gestured to the tray and watched as Penny started eating the bacon, pancakes, and eggs. "My father liked everything in bacon grease," he said quietly, as if reminiscing.

"Yeah, I remember you saying that before," Penny replied. "No wonder though, I mean, these are good."

Sheldon beamed. "You like it?" She nodded in reply. "I made that."

Penny stopped for a moment. Sheldon really had his moments. "I like it."

The pair heard a knock on the door, and Sheldon stood to open it, revealing Meemaw outside. "Breakfast in bed? That's sweet," she said with a smile on her face.

"Hey, Meemaw," Penny greeted. "You feel okay?" Meemaw looked at the two and smiled even more. "Yes, dear, in fact, I would like to take you out today."

Penny's eyebrows shot up. "Um, yeah, okay," she looked at Sheldon, and he gave her an encouraging smile. "Like, now?" Meemaw shrugged. "I'll give you time to finish your breakfast and shower," she replied.

"Okay." Penny replied, and Meemaw, satisfied, led herself to the door. "I'll see you," she said as she left.

Penny looked at Sheldon, who was sitting on the side of the bed looking back at her. "Okay, I'm scared," she laughed.

"Aw, don't be," Sheldon replied, also laughing now. "You'll be fine."

Penny finshed her food and stood to prepare to take a shower. "Easy for you to say; you're not the one whose life just flashed before her eyes."

* * *

Meemaw beamed as she saw Penny emerge from the bedroom. "Penny! Just in time." Penny put her hands in her pockets. "Yeah, I didn't want to make you wait."

"Aint you sweet," Meemaw replied, looping her arm in Penny's. "You can drive, right?"

Taking Missy's car, Penny drove, following Meemaw's directions. Meemaw was ever the enthusiastic tour guide; she'd show her places where Sheldon and Missy used to go as children. "Turn right here," she said, gesturing towards what Penny saw was a school.

"This is where Sheldon studied. Of course, he skipped most of the grades, so he wasn't here long, but I've had fond memories of him here," she said as they walked towards a bench to sit on. "I used to work here. Broke my heart everytime he'd tell me how the other kids would torment him."

Penny felt a pang in her chest. "Yeah."

"He was a good kid, you know? He was weird, but when you're in grade school, who isn't?" Meemaw laughed. "Poor Sheldon never got a chance. He was too smart. Nobody likes being bested." Penny tried to imagine Sheldon walking the halls of the school, getting stuffed into lockers or getting swirlies. She knew everything-he'd told her everything-and she always felt bad for being one of the kids who used to torment him. "He was a lonely kid. Science was the only thing that made him remotely happy. Of course, it didn't help that everyone messed with him for loving science."

"You'd think that made him the robotic, uptight, unfeeling Sheldon he is today, but if anything, it made him more loving," Meemaw said, confusing Penny for a moment. "All that trying to not be a person thing? I think that's just an act. Because I know that underneath all those is a sensitive, loving boy who just never had a chance to show his emotions without getting ridiculed for it."

Penny sighed, and Meemaw continued. "He says he doesn't love, but that's not true. He loves his nerd stuff, he loves his friends, he loves his family. He'll be mean about it, but you know he cares. And he loves you," she added. "And he's so lucky to have you. At least now I'm sure that he will never be lonely again."

"Right." Penny sighed again. What Meemaw was telling her was not news. She knew all of it. She loved him in spite of it-because of it? "Look, Meemaw, I don't want to hurt him. I don't want him to be lonely. But..."

She had entirely spaced out that she barely noticed when Meemaw stood up and said they should go back to the house. She can barely feel her arms and legs steering the wheel and stepping on the pedals. She had managed to bring them home though, which was a blessing in itself. Penny walked into the house, saw Sheldon's room, and asked Meemaw to be excused.

She closed the door behind her as she fell into the bed, sobbing. "Penny?" He said, opening the door slightly and entering the room, knocks be damned. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry," she said between sobs. "I'm so, so sorry, Sheldon."

He didn't know what to say, so he just reached out and she threw herself at his chest, tears soaking his shirt. "It's okay," he whispered against her head again and again. "It's okay."

"Sheldon," she said after what felt like forever. "I want you to be happy," she looked up at him. "And as long as we're in this fake relationship you're never going to be happy. We can't keep this up forever. You say you love me but I know that's just because we've spent so much time together we've forgotten how it feels to be apart but, sweetie, just because you believe in something doesn't necessarily mean it's gonna come true."

He sighed. For the first time in his life, he had no understanding of what she had said.


	15. Chapter 15

As soon as Sheldon opened his eyes to a still dark sky and a big, empty space beside him he knew something was wrong. He wasn't entirely sure whether he was having a nightmare or not, but either way, it was a pretty bad feeling.

Something wasn't right, and he slowly turned his head, as if frightened, as if he was going to see a stranger on the other side of his bed.

That was the moment his eyes shot up and he became fully aware of his surroundings. Something was wrong.

It wasn't because he knows Penny is a very heavy sleeper who would never get up hours before sunrise. It was... a gut feeling.

Sheldon always thought of the so-called gut feelings as a bunch of baloney, something that only people with lower intellect than him-in this case, literally everyone-used. To him, it was mind over matter. It was mind over everything else.

But as he ran his hand over the sheet, as he felt up the space where a body should be, the emptiness hit him like a truck (he wasn't one for metaphors either, but there he was). It was daunting. He forced himself to get up.

Penny was gone.

* * *

 _What the hell was I thinking._

Penny recited that in her mind, again and again, until the words lost all meaning. It's crazy-she'd always thought she would become a runaway bride, getting cold feet before the fake wedding, but no, she ended up becoming a runaway wife.

Never in a million years did she imagine herself in that position.

She'd always been impulsive. That's what made her start dating at thirteen, even though she probably knew better. That's what made her move from Omaha to Pasadena. That's what made her go out with jerks who'd bought her, what, one drink? That's what had gotten her heartbroken a hundred times.

She thought that maybe marrying Sheldon was just an impulse, a thing she never thought through, even though, again, she knew better. The whole goddamn wedding and honeymoon were impulses. Buying a ticket and getting into the plane without so much as a goodbye? Yep, impulse.

If Bernadette were with her, she would get a hard smack on the head, followed by a very shrill voice saying, "Are you out of your mind? He loves you and you love him and you're making your life harder than it already is!" And Penny would probably be like, "Yeah, you're right," because, well, she is. But the more she thought about it, the more scared she become. After Leonard, she was afraid to let her guard down again. The commitment issues she'd had before multiplied exponentially the day of their break-up.

 _"Just pick a date!" He said, flipping through a calendar._

 _"I can't just pick a date, Leonard!" She replied, almost crying now._

 _"Well maybe if you really wanted to get married to me this would have been easier!"_

 _She really didn't have anything to say after that._

She lowered the tray, set her elbows there, and put her face in her hands. Now she felt bad about Sheldon and Leonard. She let both of them down.

* * *

 _"Penny's gone and everything is a lie and I'm sorry."_

For the past hour, the Coopers sat in the living room and, after being caught up by Sheldon and Missy, were silent except for Meemaw and Sheldon. It was four in the morning, and literally nobody was happy that they had such a rude awakening.

"What do you mean she's gone?" Meemaw said, extremely concerned.

Sheldon sighed. "It means that she's not here, and I don't know where she is."

"I can't believe you didn't tell me this from the start," Mary said so quietly she wasn't sure she was heard. Sheldon looked at his feet, trying to avert the women's gazes.

"I can just hit you right now," Mary said, then immediately looked up as she silently asked for God's forgiveness.

Meemaw closed her eyes, thinking hard. "Pick your battles, Mary," she said before turning to Sheldon. "I'll take this. Sheldon, a word?" She pulled her grandson up from the couch to the kitchen.

"Sheldon, I can never understand why you did what you did, but why are you still here?" She asked, her voice a harsh whisper so as not to be heard by the others outside.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

Meemaw cast him an are-you-kidding-me-right-now look. "You think I don't see the way you look at her? If you were a normal man I would have said you were undressing her with your eyes, geez."

Sheldon crossed his arms, flabbergasted. "What are you talking about, Meemaw?"

"Don't you play coy with me," she said sternly, then put her hands on his shoulders. "Okay, look. I'll pretend that I'm not disappointed in the two of you right now. But this whole time you were pretending as if you were a real couple and let me tell you, not once did a shadow of doubt cross my mind. And I know both of you aren't very good actors, so that must say something," she smirked.

Sheldon sighed. "But... I don't even know where she went..." Meemaw dropped her hands to his and held them close to her. "You'll find her. And when you do, please don't ever lose her again."

He smiled. "I'll try."

Meemaw smiled back, satisfied. "Okay. Now take that smile off your face and pretend as if I just gave you a sermon of a lifetime."


	16. Chapter 16

The sky was already gloomy and gray, and Sheldon knew that it was about to rain soon. There was something about the cloudy, sad skies that matched his mood, and somehow he felt a little comfort.

It had been two days since Penny left, and Sheldon had never felt so worried. He wasn't used to not being in close proximity to her.

 _Thank God for Google Maps_ , he thought as he followed the marker. He knew he had to move faster unless he wanted to get drenched, but walking miles was proving to be exhausting. He just wanted to get to where he needed to be, wet or dry.

Five more minutes to his destination, and when he looked up to check the skies he felt the first few drops. Then he felt a torrent. Then he was drenched after only standing in the pouring rain for five seconds.

He continued walking, cursing himself for not having an umbrella, but encouraging himself through the next four minutes. He was walking even slower now, slowed by the wetness of his clothes and the heaviness in his chest. But he kept putting one foot in front of the other until he finally reached it: the brown ranch home he had been hoping to find for the past two days.

He stopped at the gate, thankful for a small tent the homeowners had put there for visitors, and rang the doorbell the same way he would knock on a door, three rapid presses. It took some time before someone answered, and he could hear the two people inside arguing about who should answer it. Finally, Penny appeared from the doorway. Stunned, she stood still, as if not believing her eyes.

"Sheldon," she suddenly declared, and took an umbrella before opening the gate to see him better. "Jesus, you're wet!"

He managed a nod, thankful that he had found her. "Why did you go away, Penny?" He asked.

"I..." She muttered, unsure what to say. Truth is, she needed a break to think. To figure out what to do, considering she'd given up on the whole temporary-arrangement-slash-big-fat-lie thing.

"I told them about us," Sheldon continued, not waiting for her to speak. "It's done. So if you want to get a divorce I'll give you a divorce. You don't have to leave me."

Penny was crying now, but the rain washed away the tears as soon as they fell. "Sheldon..."

He sighed. "Look, Penny," he said, looking right at her. "I'm not asking for you to love me back. I'm not asking you for anything more; I've gotten what I need and now my family knows what went on. All I want is for me not to lose you."

"What are you..." Penny muttered, but Sheldon cut her off. "You hurt me when you left, you know. We'd said we would figure it out, but you just fled. And more than hurt, I was afraid. I was afraid that I wouldn't see you again. I was afraid that you would stop being my friend. I was afraid that you didn't want to get back in my life. And that thought scared me more than anything."

Sheldon looked at his feet. "I can't lose you, Penny. I know you don't love me back," he swallowed, "but I can't not have you as my friend."

It took only two steps from where Penny was standing to get to Sheldon, but she leaped to get there even faster. Tossing the umbrella to the side, she felt the rain touch her before she reached for Sheldon under the tent and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

* * *

Thunder rattled the skies and the rain kept on pouring for the past hour, but Sheldon and Penny had changed into warmer, more comfortable clothes. Somehow they felt colder and warmer in Penny's childhood home than in the beautiful Colorado cabin.

She sat on her ankles in front of Sheldon on the bed and took the towel he used to dry earlier. Slowly, she raised her hands to his head and started to dry his hair, moving the towel slowly and gently yet squeezing the remaining water from his hair. She used the silence to think some more, mostly about how she wanted to tell Sheldon everything, that he was wrong in assuming that she didn't love her back. She wanted to tell him that no, she will never stop being there for him, and she wanted to apologize for hurting him so badly he walked in the rain for almost half a day trying to find her.

Penny felt her arms starting to feel heavy and her feet feeling numb, so she rose to her knees to give her height. Sheldon's hair was almost completely dry; now she was just massaging his temples, knowing that the cold rain soaking his head had given him a migraine.

Sheldon caught her completely off guard when he put his hands on her hips and stared up at her. Penny sank back down slowly, sitting once again on her ankles. "Penny..." He raised his hand, stopping hers.

She got the message. She folded the towel threw it on the floor as a reminder to clean it the next morning. "I..." She started to speak, but didn't know what to say next. Instead she took Sheldon's face in her hands and kissed him on the lips, so sweetly and so sincerely that soon he was kissing her back with the same sincerity. There were so many unspoken words between them but for now they would have to be said through touch, Penny thought as Sheldon started taking off her clothes.


	17. Chapter 17

To Penny, waking up with a headache is a common recurrence. It didn't matter what she did before she retired to her bed-whether she drank or she didn't, whether she put on some white noise or fell asleep on the couch in front of the TV, whether or not she had what seemed to be the best orgasm of her life-

 _Shit._

She pensively looked at the man sleeping beside her before the memories of the past night hit her like a speeding truck. _Shit,_ she said to herself once more.

It was only five in the morning- _way_ too early for her to be up and about-but she pushed away the comforter to try to make herself some coffee in the kitchen. Tying her robe extra tightly around herself, she braved the morning chill and started the coffee maker.

While waiting, she decided what to do next. She could treat Sheldon like she treated her, well, _one night stands_ and kick him out, saying that they had made a mistake. Or... Honestly, she couldn't think of another thing to do. What she knew was that she was totally being unfair to Sheldon.

The smell of coffee filled the air, and Penny knew that it was ready. She poured herself out a big mug and sat back down on the table.

"Good morning," she heard the unmistakable voice coming from behind her, and knew immediately that Sheldon was up. Already she could hear the awkwardness in his voice.

She bit her lip before turning towards him. "Hi. Why are you awake?" Sheldon stayed in his place, shrugging. "I could ask the same about you."

"Right," she smirked before returning to her coffee.

Sheldon sat next to her, and since neither of them were talking, they could actually hear each other's inhales and exhales. "Look," Penny started suddenly, and Sheldon blinked, knowing what was about to come next.

"What had happened between us... It was, well, _weird._ " She was braver now, caffeine coursing through her veins. "And I think we shouldn't have done... it."

Sheldon leaned back, knowing exactly that it was what she was going to say. He kept silent for a few minutes, lamenting on what to say next, until he landed on, "You confuse me, Penny."

She straightened up, taken aback. "What do you mean?" He crossed his arms, giving Penny time to prepare herself, although he was preparing himself just as much as he did her. "I mean that you do this thing where you like me one day, then hate me the other. You tell me one thing then you do something completely different. It's very confusing, Penny. I never know what you _mean_. You tell me we need to stop this and yet we slept together. Do you not see how confusing and frustrating that is to me?"

Penny looked down, and Sheldon continued. "Look. You know what I feel about you, and I know you think that this-" he paused, waving his hands in emphasis "-thing that we're having, but I'm going to need you to be completely honest with me. Tell me how you feel, Penny; I can take it. It's the not knowing I'm not sure I can still bear."

Guilt washed over Penny. Her indecisiveness cost her her relationship with Leonard before, and now it was going to cost her Sheldon. She looked at her now empty coffee mug and sighed.

"You want an honest answer? Fine," she replied. "I have the worst commitment issues, okay." She choked, and Sheldon knew she was trying hard not to break down. "Every time I enter into a relationship I do something to sabotage it. Every time I get feelings for someone I get my heart broken into a thousand pieces. Every time I think I see a future with someone I bail because I know he's going to see all that's wrong with me and leave, like all the others."

Sheldon stared at her, stunned. "You know what happens when you get screwed over all the damn time? You stop. I'm at this point where my heart just stopped feeling something so it doesn't have to hurt anymore. And you know what it's like? It sucks, because no matter how hard I try to tell myself to be happy, I get so scared."

"That's not an answer, Penny," he replied quietly. "I want to know if you're in this or not." He sighed. "I'm getting tired of chasing you around, trying to assure you every single day that you're important to me. I'm getting tired of not knowing whether or not what I'm doing is worth it. But I promised myself that I wouldn't give up on you even though I'm almost ready to let you go. So tell me, Penny, and spare me the pain of second-guessing myself every time. Do you want me to just stop?"

"I..." Penny stammers.

Sheldon hangs his head down.

* * *

 **AN: And I'm back! Sorry this chapter's a bit short but I'll be updating a few hours later :-)**

 **So what do you guys think of Sheldon losing his cool? Lol**


	18. Chapter 18

She was sobbing now, aware of how pathetic she must look, crying for no reason. "Why are you doing this?" She asked.

"I'm doing this because I can't wait on you forever," Sheldon replied, staring intensely into her eyes, trying to will her to give him an answer. Instead, she covered her face with her hands and sighed deeply.

The truth is, Sheldon could-would-wait on her forever, if she asked him too. As illogical as it sounds (mentally, Sheldon cringed, thinking about how absolutely absurd that is), he knew that when it came to her, he would do just about anything. And unlike the other people he knew who did that only to impress people like Penny- _Leonard_ -he would do that for the sole reason that she deserved it.

For the past couple of years he had known her, he always saw her as a strong, independent, confident woman who took life and all its absurdity in her stride, but never as the sad, broken woman she had described just moments earlier. He wanted to not only wipe her eyes, but keep them dry for the rest of his life. He missed smiling Penny, and couldn't stand the sad, crying version he was looking at right now.

* * *

Back in Texas, Mary and Missy Cooper were camped out once again in the hospital after another one of Meemaw's heart attacks. It was a big one this time, and for the past hour the pair had been trying to reach Sheldon through phone, to no success.

"Where is that boy?" Missy asked for the fifth time today, and Missy answered yet again with a shrug. "He went to find Penny."

Mary rolled her eyes. "I know that, but where?"

"Could be in Alaska," Missy answered sarcastically. "Look, Sheldon went to Pasadena and apparently did not find her there, so she could be _anywhere_ , which means he could be _anywhere._ "

Not amused with the sarcasm, Mary glared at her daughter. "Okay, I get it, enough with the sarcasm already."

Missy sighed, then looked at Meemaw lying asleep on the bed. "Meemaw is going to be pissed as shit if Sheldon doesn't haul his ass back here," she paused, then straightened up as she realized something. "And imagine how Sheldon would react."

"Watch your mouth," she chastised Missy, but deep inside she was also thinking the same thing. Mary had come to accept a long time ago that Meemaw could _go_ at any given moment, but had Sheldon?

The two women stayed silent for so long, Mary thinking about Sheldon and Missy-surprisingly-praying that things between Sheldon and Penny would be alright for Meemaw's sake.

"Hang in there, Meemaw, okay? Penny and Sheldon are gonna make it, and so will you," Missy whispered to her grandmother as she picked up the phone to try and contact Sheldon for literally the hundredth time.

* * *

"Penny." He caught her attention, and she looked at him expectantly. "I don't know what happened that made you so sad and so full of distrust, but have you ever considered that maybe is the time that all stops?" She stared at him, and he continued. "You of all people know that I would never do anything to hurt you-not intentionally anyway; I know I can be a little brash sometimes-and you know that I have so much patience that if you ever have bad days and don't feel like being a girlfriend I'll wait it out with you, and you know that I still haven't mastered this relationship debacle, so we'll be learning from each other the whole time."

He raised his eyebrows when Penny chuckled in response. "Girlfriend?" She asked.

"Well, I assumed you'd want a divorce if we would start over." He replied, and Penny's smile grew as he shyly looked at his hands on the table.

Penny bit her lip. "You know what?" At the shake of Sheldon's head, she continued. "I'm gonna take a leap of faith here, because, Jesus, I realized that I was so scared to lose you that I would rather have driven you out of my life while it was still early." She stood. "But I also just realized how stupid that was. And because I love you too. I do."

In a move that completely took Sheldon by surprise, Penny dropped to one knee. "I'm going to make use of your super memory here, okay?" Sheldon nodded. "Look, Sheldon, I promise that I'll try. I'll try to be a better person, and a better girl-well, wife. I promise I won't be such a bitch to you. But you have to promise me that you'll remind me if I forget."

"Okay," Sheldon replied. "So, Sheldon, will you stay married to me? Because this all would have been moot if you won't," she replied, prompting an excited 'yes' from Sheldon. He took her face in his hand gently and kissed her, and she kissed him back-the sweetest, most sincere she's ever given in her life.

* * *

"Do you have to go back to Pasadena so soon?" Penny asked Sheldon as she watched him browse through his laptop. He nodded. "I wish I could have stayed, but I've missed so much work already."

She smiled, knowing how much Sheldon can't stand not working for a long time. "Well if you're going back then I'm going with you." Sheldon looked up at her and smiled. "Okay."

Penny noticed Sheldon's phone lighting up on the nightstand. "Um, Sheldon? I think someone's calling," she pointed to the phone which he picked up and answered without looking at the screen. It was only when Sheldon's expression changed when Penny realized something was wrong.

"I'll still go with you," she smiled, and Sheldon was reminded once again of how incredibly lucky he was that he had her.

* * *

 **AN: We are finally here where we want 'em to be. Whew!**

 **Thanks for the reviews, everyone, and keep them coming! I'll be updating this real soon, I promise. :-)**


	19. Chapter 19

Penny clutched Sheldon's hand tight from the moment they boarded the plane to when they got to the hospital. Sheldon is always jittery on planes, and she wanted to make him feel at least a little bit comfortable, considering that Meemaw was in such a bad state.

"Hey, you ok?" She asked, looking up at his stoic face. To his credit, he looked at her with a small smile and replied, "Yes, I am."

"It wouldn't be weird, right, me suddenly appearing," Penny asked. "They'd be pissed, for sure, with me running away without telling them..." She trailed off with nervous laughter. "You think I should just stay out of the room or something?" She asked, paused for a moment, then continued. "Oh, no, Meemaw! Oh, she's gonna be mad at me."

Sheldon regarded her with amusement on his face. "Penny," he started, but she continued talking more to herself now than to him. "Penny..." She wasn't hearing him, he realized. He put his hands on his shoulders and turned her towards him. "It will be fine," he said as reassuringly as he could.

"You sure?" She asked again.

Sheldon nodded."Very much so."

She sighed, and they continued walking towards the airport's exits, their luggage trailing behind them. She listened to the chatter of the people, the rolling of the carts on the floor, the announcements over the PA system. She swore she could feel Sheldon's rapid heartbeat-his face said nothing but she knew he was scared.

She adjusted her hand and held his tighter. After all they've been through, she wasn't going to let it go now. He ran his thumb over her skin, a comforting gesture-though she knew that he was trying to comfort himself more than he was trying to comfort her.

* * *

The hospital was as gloomy as Sheldon saw it last. Although he loved that it perpetually smelled of antiseptic, he couldn't help but overthink about the diseases you can get just by hanging around by a hospital. That's one of the bad things about having a memory like his, he thought. You know too much about the world that you end up living in fear from it.

 _You're here for Meemaw, Sheldon. Focus,_ he thought to himself.

The one thing he was thankful for was that Penny was with him. Being in close proximity with her is absolutely soothing to him.

"Here we are," he said, slowly closing his free hand on the doorknob. "Here we are," Penny echoed.

He pushed the door to Meemaw's room open and entered, Penny following behind him. She could see Mary and Missy's relieved faces, and so she flashed a smile. "Hi," she awkwardly greeted the women.

Sheldon, not one to be hugged, inmediately went to his grandmother. Penny received the two women's warm hugs and cheek kisses, and was overcome with emotion by them, surprised they were still welcoming towards her. "How's Meemaw?" She asked.

"Not good. Her heart keeps getting weaker with each attack," Mary whispered, knowing Sheldon would hear her anyway. "She had a small attack earlier, in her sleep. We couldn't even tell," Missy continued. Penny sighed and went over to Sheldon, who pulled her a chair.

"Thanks," she said as she scooted closer to him to put her head on his shoulder.

They sat like that for such a long time that they did not notice Meemaw stirring. "Is she waking up?" Penny finally said as Meemaw opened her eyes.

"Oh," Meemaw's eyes adjusted to the light and focused on the two figures in front of her, realizing they were Sheldon and Penny. "Oh!"

"It's us, Meemaw," Sheldon said, ecstatic. He leaned back to let Penny scoot closer so Meemaw could see her. "It is you," she replied. "Are you-?" She trailed off, not really sure what they were now.

Penny smiled. "We're staying together, Meemaw," she replied.

"You love him already?" Meemaw asked, and Penny shrugged. "Yeah, though I think I've always did," she looked at Sheldon at her left. "I guess I only needed to realize just how much." Sheldon blushed as Penny spoke, and Meemaw beamed.

Meemaw weakly raised her hand to cover Penny's. "Love has this thing with timing," she said. "Sometimes it takes people 5 seconds to feel it, sometimes it takes 5 years. But then the right love: it lasts 5 eternities." Penny smiled in response. Mary and Missy were sitting now on the end of the bed, smiling widely while watching the exchange between the three.

"Take care of your Penny, Sheldon, okay?" Meemaw looked up at her favorite grandchild with pride. "Meemaw, no-" Sheldon started, but she stopped him with a wave of her hand. "No, you listen to me, boy," she scowled. "I don't think you realize just how amazing this girl is. So don't take her for granted."

"Trust me, Meemaw, I do realize. And I won't," he replied, and then it was Penny's turn to turn red.

Penny fell quiet as she watched Meemaw and her family, and heard what she felt was goodbyes. She wiped at the corner of her eye, feeling tears threatening her. She was sitting still as a statue, and everything felt as if they were moving in slow motion. She blinked.

Meemaw was coding.

"Press the button, Penny," Missy said, pointing to the call button above the bed. She pressed it, and seconds later, a pair of nurses appeared. "Oh," one of the nurses sighed. "She's a do not resucitate," she looked around her at the family looking for confirmation.

"She is," Mary and Missy said simultaneously, tears in their eyes.

Sheldon looked at the monitor, and knew exacltly what was going on. Ventricular fibrillation, then the heart stops, then the brain will stop getting oxygen.

Penny wrapped her arms around Sheldon and buried her head in his chest, not wanting to see. She could here the beeping of the machine getting slower, until there was the unmistakable sound of a flat line.

"We'll give you some privacy," one of the nurses said before both of them left. Mary was first to speak. "We'll miss you," she said as she kissed her mother on the cheek. Missy had given her a kiss, too. "Love you, Meemaw."

The two women stepped away, letting Sheldon and Penny come closer. "Don't worry, Meemaw," Penny said, wiping her tears. "I'll take care of your Moonpie."

Sheldon smiled in response. "Thanks for everything, Meemaw. I love you." He clutched Penny's hand again. "And I'll take care of Penny, too."

Missy approached the two. "Damn, Sheldon," she said quietly. "She waited for you two," she wiped a tear from her cheek. "You gave her her wish."

* * *

 **AN: Oh, man, this chapter was hard to write. :-(**

 **But we're not finished yet! Leave me your reviews and I'll be back shortly. Thanks! :-)**


	20. Chapter 20

Her had never left his that day - or maybe his hand never left hers. Penny couldn't really tell at that point anymore. She was listening so intently to everything everyone said about Meemaw, knowing that not one of those people said anything that wasn't from their hearts. "What a good service for a good person," she whispered as she squeezed his hand before he stood, leaving her empty-handed for the first time in hours.

"I don't think I would ever have realized how important Penny truly had been in my life if it weren't for Meemaw," Sheldon said in an awkward yet emotional (at least, on his level) speech. "She has a knack of being certain about so many things even before any of us could have thought it."

Penny shifted in here seat, finding herself suddenly uncomfortable without Sheldon sitting by her. She shook her head, thinking how she had used him this whole time to slightly hide herself. Amy and Bernadette were sitting beside her, and the boys beside Sheldon, but she could feel Leonard's... confusion? anger? She couldn't tell, but she was internally bracing herself for a confrontation that might come sooner or later.

It wasn't until she looked up at Sheldon again that she realized she was due to give her speech. She had Sheldon's memorized anyway - eulogy or not, it was still a public speaking event, and Sheldon had practiced over and over again much to her slight annoyance. Standing, she awkwardly straightened her skirt and responded to Sheldon's encouraging smile with a grateful one of her own, taking the podium.

"I've never felt more part of a family than when I came into Meemaw's," she began. "She's one of the greatest people I've ever had the privilege of having been called "family" by..."

The hours went by, and soon enough, the service was done. She and the Coopers watched as the crowd thinned before they started to go, looking at Meemaw's final resting place one last time that day.

"That was nice," Amy said as put her arm around Penny while they walked. "Yeah, it absolutely was." She replied solemnly.

Amy fell silent for a few moments before she spoke. "Are you guys thinking of coming back home to Pasadena yet?"

"I... actually don't know," Penny replied. "I don't think he wants to go back just yet. But I'll gladly stay here with him." Amy smiled. "It'll be good for him," she replied as she caught up with Bernadette, Howard, Leonard and Raj.

Penny looked back and saw Sheldon walking slower than the others, so she walked back until she reached him. "You okay?" She asked, not really reading his expression.

"Yes, I'm okay," he replied. "Thanks for being here."

Penny took that opportunity to loop her arm through his. "Hey. As long as you need me, Sheldon, I'll be right here."

* * *

They spent another few weeks in the Cooper residence, sorting Meemaw's things and touring Penny around the best parts of Sheldon's childhood. "I've known Sheldon for so many years! How do I not know these things?" She asked in wonder as Missy took her to every memorable place she can think of, sharing crazy (adorable) Sheldon stories along the way.

Missy and Penny giggled like teens as they toured, leaving Sheldon behind. He had only come with them since Mary dragged him to, and so he was walking so begrudgingly behind the girls. He was watching Penny, though, almost the entire time - could he have loved anything else than he loved her?

"Sheldon," Penny called out. "Why are you walking so slow? Come on!" She gestured for him to catch up, and he smiled as he did. At this point, he was willing to do anything she'd say.

"Don't you think you've seen enough?!" He asked his wife as he caught up. Penny and Missy looked at him. "Not enough!" Penny said as she pulled him close to her. "Come on, slowpoke, I'm not leaving you alone until I know all there is to know about Dr. Sheldon Cooper."

* * *

That night, Sheldon opened the door to their bedroom holding up two plane tickets. "Penny?"

"Yeah?" She looked up from the TV.

"I think it's time to go back to Pasadena," he replied, and Penny stood to wrap her arms around him. "Are you sure?"

He kissed the top of her head. "Yes. Don't get me wrong, I've loved spending all this time with you here, but we have missed a lot."

"That's true," she thought. "Sheldon?" He mumbled a question, and she looked up at his face. "Are we gonna stay like this back there? I mean... it's Pasadena after all, and all of our friends are there, and it could be... weird."

He sighed. "It will be 'weird,' yes," he admitted. "But you'll always have me. And we should be okay."

"Okay," she echoed.

He smiled. "I do miss you though. Missy's been keeping you for herself."

"Hmm," she pondered. "Is that why you want to go home, so you can have me to yourself?"

"That's... one of the reasons," he admitted with a laugh. She stood on her toes, and gave him a kiss. "We could fix that," she said almost suggestively.

He glanced at the clothes in their dresser. "Oh, sure!" He said enthusiastically. "We can go pack!"

Penny stifled a laugh. The man enjoyed organizing stuff so damn much she had to give him that one.

* * *

"Are Sheldon and Penny back in Pasadena yet?" Leonard asked Howard. Howard looked at him - stared - as he replied. "Geez, what has got your panties in a rut? This is like the fifth time you'd asked since we came back from Texas!"

Leonard sighed. He had been quite a pain in the butt these days. He'd come home to his apartment late at night, finishing projects in his lab until late so "he wouldn't have to accidentally run into Penny and Sheldon." "Where would they even live?" He continued. "Are they going to live together?" Leonard wondered aloud, more annoyed than confused. "This is all too... freaking weird," he said instead, resigned, while Howard looked on at his friend, silently wondering if Leonard had gone nuts.

"You have got to stop that sometime, you know," Howard said as he took a bit of his sandwich from the cafeteria lunch. "They're married, and happy! Let it go!"

"But are they?" Leonard responded again. "The deal was that they'd stay together for Sheldon's Meemaw, and I think Penny's done her half of the deal."

Howard sighed. "Oh no," he whispered to his food. "Leonard, are you kidding me right now?" He finally said.

Leonard didn't answer, but Howard knew he was on to something.

He was going to try and get Penny back.

 **A/N: Oh my god I'm so sorry I took so long to upload another chapter! So many things happened you guys, I graduated from college, got a job, and I got a kitty (lol) so I've been pretty busy. But I promise to do a mass upload over the coming week, I swear! See you guys in a bit :-)**


	21. Chapter 21

"Oh, no." Howard shook his head. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no." He put down his sandwich, and glared at his friend, jaw dropped. "No!"

"What do you mean, "no?" I'm not about to do anything," Leonard protested and looked down on his own food, a sign that told Howard he was absolutely lying.

Howard sighed. "Please. I've been around you and Penny long enough to know that you are planning something absolutely ridiculous in that head of yours!"

Leonard gave in and muttered an "I might" when Raj sat down beside him with his food. "What's up?" He asked.

"Ah, get this," Howard replied. "Leonard here is planning on breaking up Sheldon and Penny's happy marriage because he wants to get her back."

Raj's eyes widened, and echoed Howard from earlier. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no!" He exclaimed. "Don't do that!"

Leonard had had quite enough. "Why? Why shouldn't I? We all thought that relationship was doomed from the start. Besides, if I have one more shot at happiness with Penny then I am sure as hell going to take it."

"Oh my god I cannot even tell you how wrong this is," Howard muttered under his breath. "Sheldon and Penny are both happy, Leonard! You're essentially ruining two lives here and I'm not going to stand here and let you do that."

Raj nodded the whole time. "Not a good idea dude, I'll tell you that."

"I'm not going to do anything... drastic!" Leonard protested, gaining another look from Howard, who was just shaking his head at that point.

Leonard sighed, blocking his friends' advice - Howard and Raj were still talking about how horrible that idea was. His mind was all made up anyway.

* * *

"I can't believe I'm actually nervous," Penny said to Sheldon who was reading the in-flight magazine beside her. "What, with the plane? It should be fine," Sheldon assured her.

"No," she shook her head as the plane rolled slowly preparing for takeoff. "I'm nervous about coming back to Pasadena. It's like - I've been gone so long and had so much fun that I don't want to go back to my old routine."

Sheldon nodded, seemingly understanding. "Hmm," he muttered, at a lost for words, but trying to find them anyway. He knows exactly how she feels - his routine was basically turned upside-down the moment he thought about proposing to Penny that one night - and although he hadn't admitted it, he felt a bit weird, too. "I doubt we'll go back to our old routines," he finally said.

Penny smiled at her husband. "True." It had only been a few months, but everything had been different. "I left as a single woman and came back a doting wife!" She laughed. "What a turn of events."

And she couldn't have been happier. Should she change her surname to Cooper too? Oh, that would be weird. Would we be living in her apartment? Obviously Leonard wouldn't like the idea of the three of them living under the same roof. Would she still have her job waiting for her back home?

She put her hand on her stomach with the lightest of touches. The plane was ascending into the skies and she felt a bit queasy. Sheldon noticed her discomfort. "Are you okay?" He asked lightly.

"Good, thanks," she exhaled as she felt the plane stabilizing.

* * *

"They're coming back," Raj said to the room. "They should be in the plane right now I guess."

The boys were in Leonard's apartment that night playing some of Sheldon's old video games. "Who?" Howard asked, not taking his eyes of the TV.

"Sheldon and Penny," Raj said as he scrolled through his phone. "Penny had tweeted it. They should be here in a couple hours."

Howard paused the game and checked what Raj was looking at. "Oh, good grief, they really are coming back. You think Leonard already know-"

"They're coming back!" Leonard suddenly reappeared into the living room, and Howard and Raj sighed. "This is amazing," Leonard said to the two.

Raj and Howard just looked at each other. "Looks like he knows, huh," Howard ended. "This is going to be a disaster."

"Leonard, you sure about all this, buddy?" Howard tried for the last time that day. Leonard nodded. "Yes. I'm sure."

"Alright." Howard unpaused his game. At least he gave it a shot.


	22. Chapter 22

"Wow, home sweet home," Penny sighed as she looked out the window of the plane. They were nearing Pasadena at that point. There still was a queasy feeling coming from her stomach, but she put her hand on it again and figured she can just ignore it for the time being - anyway, they were home.

"That is a spectacular view," he remarked as he saw the lights of the city. "Meemaw had loved it before too, when she visited."

Penny clutched his hand. "I know," she replied sadly. Sheldon had always displayed a sort of indifference during the moments leading up to the death and the funeral - a coping mechanism Penny had noticed throughout the years she'd known him - but there were moments where he displayed vulnerability, which she actually loved. Her husband truly is human and capable of emotions, she would think.

"Listen, Penny," he said after the pilot announced that they were starting the descent. "i know that I have thanked you a few times for agreeing to marry me and for helping me get through all this, but I do sincerely mean every word."

Penny looked at him and smiled, understanding every word. "Sweetie, I have never doubted that before, and I'm definitely not going to start now," she smiled.

"Good," he replied. "Also, I love you."

She pulled her head up and kissed him on the lips - an action that just came to them so easily and so normally these days. "I love you, too."

* * *

Leonard kept checking his watch, and Howard and Raj were being driven crazy by the constant pacing. Leonard had a tab open on his laptop checking the flight route of Sheldon and Penny's plane, and it read that it would land exactly 30 minutes from now.

Howard sighed. "Okay, I figured since we're here now I'd ask - exactly what are you planning to do?"

Leonard shrugged. "I have no idea just yet. Although I know it should come to me when I see Penny."

Raj looked at Howard and shrugged as well. "I see," Howard replied. "So when they march down on here you'll just... be there?"

"Well... yes." Leonard sighed, and checked his watch again. "You have got to stop the checking of the watch, man," Raj said, almost exasperated. "A watched watch never changes time."

Howard had to smile at that one, but decided to push Leonard's buttons just a little bit. "Huh, maybe I shouldn't have tried to stop you, then. If you don't have a plan just yet then Sheldon and Penny should be okay and live happily ever after."

Leonard glared at Howard. "Not funny," he scoffed.

"Oh, but it is," Howard looked at Raj, who was nodding his head.

The pizza came and the three of them paused gaming to have dinner, barely noticing that the tab on Leonard's laptop said that the plane had already landed. it wasn't until a few pizzas and a few minutes of walking around in the virtual world they were on that they heard a familiar knock on the door.

"Leonard," Howard said, noting that the voice from behind was calling his name. "It's for you."

Leonard bit his lip and walked over to the door, opening it to see Sheldon and Penny, their hands clasped together. "Hi, guys!" He said, in a voice that weirded Howard and Raj out.

"Hey, Leonard!" Sheldon and Penny said at the same time. It was at this point that she broke off from Sheldon and gave Leonard a hug. "I missed you!" She laughed.

Sheldon took notice of Howard and Raj sitting on the couch. "Hello!" He greeted the two, and Howard and Raj greeted back. "Hi, you guys," Penny soon followed, and Leonard followed her with his gaze the whole time.

"So how's everything?" Howard asked when Sheldon and Penny settled on the couch - Sheldon on his spot and Penny on his right.

"Great," Penny was first to reply. "I mean, I don't think we ever told you guys about the honeymoon we had in Colorado - Sheldon here taught me how to ski," she said proudly, and Raj shot Leonard a look.  
Howard raised his eyebrows. "I had no idea Sheldon could ski," he remarked.

"I am actually a fairly good skiier," Sheldon replied. "We did have fun in Colorado did we?" He looked at his wife when he asked.

Penny nodded. "So much fun." She kept talking about her adventures with Sheldon, and Howard and Raj were engrossed, seeing how happy and refreshed the couple seemed to be. Howard kept an eye on Leonard though, who was practically sulking.

Howard stood and gestured to Leonard to join him over at the kitchen, where they pretended to get some drinks from the fridge. "Do you not see what we're seeing here?" He asked in a hushed tone making sure those in the living room won't hear him.

"See what?" Leonard, feigning confusion, kept his eyes on Sheldon and Penny.

" _That,"_ Howard replied, pointing at the happy couple laughing with Raj. "You can just feel how happy they are just by being in the same proximity, man. It's actually really odd seeing Sheldon like that."

Leonard shrugged, and Howard returned to his seat on the couch.

"Same old," Raj replied. "Although I did miss seeing Sheldon at work if you can believe it," Raj was saying in response to Penny's question about holding Pasadena down while they were gone.

Penny laughed and took Sheldon's hand in hers. There literally wasn't a moment that they were not touching.

"I can," she gushed, and Sheldon actually blushed.

Leonard sat there engulfed in the conversation, all the while studying Sheldon and Penny together. If he wanted to get her back, he would have to act real soon.


	23. Chapter 23

Sheldon ended up staying over at Penny's apartment for the night - without question. These days he was used to sleeping anywhere as long as he wasn't alone. "Sorry for the mess," Penny laughed. "Obviously I hadn't been able to clean before we left..."

Penny looked around, almost embarrassed at the mess in her bedroom floor. In Colorado and Texas, their bedroom had been pristine, all thanks to Sheldon. Granted, the space was bigger in both places too.

But Sheldon was already picking things up from the floor like a reflex. "That's fine," he replied. "If you'd like I can deep clean your apartment as well so that everything will be disinfected."

"Sounds good," she replied, humoring her husband. Love does crazy things - a year ago Penny would never have allowed herself to agree with Sheldon on things such as deep cleaning her apartment, much less allow him on the same bed. "Although I really think we should focus on getting some sleep."

Sheldon looked at her, brow furrowed. "It's 7 in the evening," he said, checking his watch. "Are you not feeling well?"

Penny remembered the feeling she had on the plane. "I am... feeling well, I mean. Just absolutely tired, and I did miss the feeling of this bed on my back. I mean it's not the comfy Colorado bed, but whatever."

That was a lie, Penny thought to herself, but thought again that she'd deal with it tomorrow.

He shrugged. Penny had already laid her head on the pillow, so he just sat beside her on the edge of the bed. "in that case, you can go to sleep," he said as he smoothed the hair from her forehead. "I'll clean this up and lie beside you once I'm done."

"Okay," Penny replied, yawning. "Promise me no deep cleaning tonight?"

He smiled, looking down at who he considered the most beautiful woman in the world. "I promise."

* * *

Penny woke up early the next morning, and found Sheldon next to her like he promised the night before. It was too early to be moving, so she tried going back to sleep, but she was too awake now. She figured she could just make breakfast, but thought he wouldn't be up for the next few hours, and she needed stuff to cook with anyway.

She tiptoed to the bathroom instead, careful not to wake Sheldon up, and washed her face to get the sleep out from her eyes. "New day," she said grumpily - she used to wake up early while with Sheldon in Texas, but that didn't make her a morning person for sure. She took out a box from the medicine cabinet. Alright. Let's see if I'm right, shall we?

* * *

Leonard opened the door the moment he heard the knock, and saw Penny on the other side. "Hey, Penny," he said, surprised. "What's up?"

"Good morning," she replied. "Got any food I can cook on here? I'm making Sheldon breakfast but I remembered I hadn't gone to the supermarket in forever."

He laughed. "Yeah, feel free to raid the kitchen," he said as he stepped back to allow her in. Penny started rummaging through the cabinets to collect the supplies she needed, and Leonard silently regarded her.  
"Sheldon awake yet?" He asked. "I need to be at the office early, but I can give him a ride if he's ready soon."

Penny shook her head. "Oh, he's asleep, but thanks for the offer though. Don't worry, I can drive him to work."

"Okay." As much as he wanted Penny, Sheldon was still his friend. "Hey, um, this may sound weird, but would it be fine if we had dinner sometime? I just feel like I have some stuff I need to say to you that I wasn't able to before you, well, ran off with Sheldon."

She smiled. "That's alright, Leonard," she replied. "Tomorrow night? I might be busy cleaning tonight..." He nodded.

"Sure thing. I gotta go - I'll replace all these later when I go to the supermarket," she said as she gathered the food and headed to the door. "See you."

Penny marched to her apartment and started making her own pancake batter with the ingredients she found in Leonard's kitchen. She put in some chocolate chips she found in her pantry - checking that they hadn't gone bad yet - and put them in the batter. Finding a glassful of orange juice in Leonard's fridge, she emptied the contents of the box to a tall glass and set it on the tray. Minutes later, her chocolate chip pancakes were ready, so she put a stack on the tray and set it down on her bed next to Sheldon.

"Hey, Sheldon," she whispered. "I made you breakfast!"

Sheldon sat up with a big smile on his face. "Look, I know that it's supposed to be oatmeal day, but I raided Leonard's kitchen and he didn't have any oatmeal, so I just made chocolate chip pancakes if that's okay," she said with a tinge of worry.

"It's perfect," Sheldon replied. "When I said we might not go back to our old routine, I took breakfast into consideration."

Penny laughed. "Go, eat up. When you're ready I'm driving you to work."

* * *

Penny did not think much about the thing she hid in her bathroom until she got back home from dropping Sheldon at the university. It wasn't until she was - slowly - coming up the stairs that she felt anxious about the results of the pregnancy test.

She set her purse down in a hurry. "Let's go, let's go, let's go," she muttered to herself. Instruction manual on her left hand and test on the other, she sat on the toilet, read through the manual just to check what the lines indicated, and finally looked at the test.

"Okay, well, I can't say this wasn't a pleasant surprise," she said, talking to her stomach, grinning the whole time through.


	24. Chapter 24

"What exactly are you two doing tonight?" Sheldon asked Penny who was standing in front of the closet, looking for something to wear to dinner.

"Well I mean he did say dinner," Penny replied. Obviously Sheldon was thinking about it too much... right?

Sitting on the bed behind her, he crossed his arms. "And?"

Penny had to smile at that point - her husband was being suddenly overprotective, and she was loving it. "And what?" She returned the question, turning to face him. "Sheldon, I'm a grown woman. I should be able to have dinner with Leonard without any problem."

"Hmm," he cocked his head at her. "Dinner with your ex-boyfriend," he replied pointedly.

Turning her attention back to the closet, she sighed quietly. Are Sheldon's snide remarks well-deserved - is agreeing to go to dinner with Leonard such an insane idea?

Sheldon pushed his thoughts away, not that anything ever goes away in that mind of his. "You have been staring at your closet for the past 20 minutes now," he observed.

"Yeah," she sighed again. "I'm not crazy, right?" She asked, suddenly unsure. Sheldon always had answers, and it's one of the things she loved about him.

To be honest though, Sheldon was unsure, too. "I don't think so," he replied instead, thinking that lying to her isn't going to do them any good. She saw right through him. "I think you're wonderful." He smiled shyly.

Penny did see right through him, so she smiled at the attempt to fix his first answer. "Mmhmm." She picked out a dress finally, a piece so different from the types she had worn before. "Thanks, that really helps." She kissed him on the cheek and disappeared into the bathroom. "And you're wonderful, too."

It wasn't long before Penny heard the knock on the door. "Coming!" She said, checking that she had all her stuff in her purse.

"I'll get going," she said to Sheldon, who was reading something on his laptop. "Will you be okay?"

Sheldon looked up frowning. "I will." He never told her, but he didn't like the idea of her going with Leonard for dinner tonight - it was, in a word he rarely ever uses: weird.

"Okay. I love you," she said as she planted a kiss on his lips. Sheldon stood and walked her to the door at that point. "I love you too."

Leonard beamed when he saw Penny - and Sheldon - at the door. "Hi," he greeted them both.

"Hello," Sheldon replied, emotionless, which gained him a sharo glance from Penny.

"So, you ready?" Leonard asked Penny, seemingly unaware of Sheldon's attitude. "Yeah," she replied. "I'll be home in a bit, okay?" She said to her husband, and she closed the door finally behind him and Leonard.

"Sorry about Sheldon by the way," she said as they went down the stairs. "He's... in a mood tonight."

Leonard smiled. "Ah, that's okay. I think he's always in a mood anyway."

Penny had to laugh at that. Before having gotten married, Sheldon usually annoyed the crap out of her. Of course she loved the banter between them, but she couldn't help but laugh at the thought that the person she wanted to punch most of the time before is the same person she'd fallen in love now.

"It's true," she agreed. "So where are we going tonight?"

Leonard shrugged. "It's a surprise! The restaurant's fairly new - they opened soon after you went to Texas."

"Ah," Penny replied. "Thanks." Leonard had opened the car door and closed it for her at that point, and Penny followed him with her gaze as he walked over to the driver's side.

They arrived at the restaurant a few minutes later, and to his credit, Leonard actually did a good job choosing it. "This is nice," she said in awe as they walked in.

"Right?" He replied, looking up at the chandeliers. "Fancy stuff." He had helped her to her seat and ordered food all in the few minutes they have been there. "Um, do you want wine?" He asked.

"Oh, I don't really drink anymore now," she lied. "But you should get it, for you." He smiled, and he ordered a glass of wine for himself to spare her.

Penny couldn't help but stare at the person sitting across from her. "Okay, where was this Leonard before?! I don't think I've ever seen you like this, it's weird."

"Yeah," he replied meekly. "I guess i should apologize for that, huh."

"It's fine," she replied. Never had she seen Leonard be this serious before. Who knows what could have happened if he had kept this up throughout their relationship?

Their food soon arrived, and the two started to dig in. "So... I believe you had some things to tell me?"


	25. Chapter 25

Here we go, Leonard thought. All last night he had rehearsed how their dinner would go, but he still felt a pang of nervousness, like he was on a date with Penny for the first time ever. Get it together!

He loved that she appreciated what he had done so far though, and it wasn't helping that Penny looked stunning. She was wearing a plain black dress, but like anything she wore, the dress looked like it was made specifically for her.

"Well," he stammered. "I believe I do."

Penny giggled. "Are you nervous?" She asked, almost laughing. "Look, sweetie, I'm your friend. You can tell me literally anything."

Leonard sighed. "In that case, now that i've mentioned it anyway, I guess I'd like to apologize for not knowing how to treat you better until now."

He continued. "I guess I took for granted that someone like you was even going out on a date with someone like me."

Penny put down her fork, and reached out to touch his hand in the middle of the table. "Well, our relationship wasn't a complete disaster you know," she assured him with a smile. "We may not have agreed on a lot of things but we did try."

"I know." Leonard replied. "Still, it would have made me feel better if I had been a better boyfriend. So, I'm sorry for that."

She nodded. "Thanks. Come to think of it though, your next girlfriend would be the luckiest woman in the world."

Leonard smiled and took a sip of wine before proceeding. "That's not the only thing I have to say..." he trailed off.

"Okay," Penny encouraged him.

One fall night, two years ago, Leonard had asked Penny to marry her. They were in his apartment, and Sheldon was on one of his date nights with Amy so they were alone. He hadn't prepared for it at all - in fact, he had asked the question out of the blue while they were having dinner sitting on the couch. But he had a ring, and he had said "Will you marry me?" in his head for about four times now, and he was, in a sense, ready.

Penny's eyes were focused on the TV then, so he took that moment to get the ring from his pocket. "Penny," he said, getting her attention. He knelt to the ground in front of her and asked the dreaded question - "Will you marry me?"

She was so stunned, she wasn't able to move for the next minute. "Leonard, what are you doing?"

Leonard shrugged. "I mean, we have dated for many years now, and you have always wondered if we were getting somewhere with our relationship, so I figured it was time for us to finally settle down."

He doesn't even remember what she said exactly, but he remembers the tears rolling down her face and him trying to comfort her for the rest of the night.

"Oh." Just like before, Penny was too stunned to form a follow-up sentence. "Just so I have it right, are you saying that you are still in love with me?" She had to ask, trying to see if she had just misheard.

"Yeah." Leonard replied, and she closed her eyes processing what he is saying. "And yes, it has been so long since we broke up, but I just figured I should let you know."

Penny drank from her glass of ice water. "Leonard, you do remember why we broke up, right?" He nodded. "We aren't right for each other. All we did was fight and disagree, and there were times i felt you weren't supporting me during those tough times I was going through before." She sighed, remembering all the details from way back. "I loved you, too, but we wouldn't have been able to make a marriage work if all we did was stay there for convenience."

Leonard nodded again. Of course he was too stubborn to try and understand, but he was trying. "I understand. And I'm actually, really sorry for that," he replied.

"Besides," she continued, "and I know this is weird for you to hear, but I've actually fallen in love for Sheldon, and we're very happy together."

That hit him like a truck, but he smiled anyway. Out of his view, Penny touched her belly and thought about her husband back at home.

"I need to go," she suddenly said, taking Leonard aback. "Sorry, Leonard. I do hope you can forgive me for this one, but right now I need to talk to Sheldon about something."

Leonard nodded. That he clearly understood. "Let me just go ahead and pay for dinner, then I'll drive you home."

And with that, he knew that he had lost her for what felt like the hundredth time.

Penny hurried up the stairs and Leonard almost struggled to keep up. Penny stopped when they reached their floor, and before Leonard could open his door, she touched his arm to stop him.

"I'm really sorry for everything, Leonard," she said, facing him. "I'm sorry, too," he replied, trying to sound as calm and collected. "You have a good night, Penny." Upon hearing her reply, he opened the door and shut it behind him, as Penny carefully went inside her own apartment.

She found Sheldon in her bed, sound asleep. She knew waking him up was probably not a good idea, but she couldn't wait. She carefully tapped him on the shoulder. "Sheldon, wake up."

He finally opened his eyes and saw Penny's face in the darkness - she had only lit up one lamp. "Back so soon?" He asked.

"Yeah," she replied. "And i have something to tell you."

He sat up. "What is it?"

Penny took a breath to calm her racing heart. "You're going to be a dad," she said, and she found herself being wrapped around Sheldon's arms.

And just as easy as that, engulfed in Sheldon's arms with the thought of their baby coming soon, she Penny knew she had made the right choice.


End file.
